By snoadmin
The commute to Cal State Long Beach can be daunting, with morning traffic and the fight for a parking space.
But for Master of Fine Arts degree candidate Sierra Brown, 28, commuting to The Beach was an adventure.
For her graduatea thesis project, titled “Port-to-Class Supercommute,” Brown recently spent eight consecutive Mondays employing unique ways to get to her 7 p.m. art class.
Methods included swimming 12 miles from the Ports O’Call Village in San Pedro to the Marina Pacifica Mall in’east Long Beach’s Alamitos Bay, running 16 miles in a heavy polar bear suit, rollerblading, paddling a longboard, and even pedaling a fiberglass swan through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach while dressed in Victorian-era clothing.
Brown said her project was meant to create an awareness about the environment, the high cost of fuel, and Southern California’s lack of public transportation. Brown also said she sees the project as an opportunity to show the importance of taking the first steps toward change.
“I want to raise questions within the art world, but also beyond it,” Brown told the CSULB Office of Public Affairs. “I want to raise questions about the relationships between art, society and the environment.”
The idea for Brown’s project began after she moved from Flagstaff, Ariz., to San Pedro, where she realized there was no easy way to bike to school. (Biking was a habit Brown developed living in Australia, where she biked to her university.)
Brown received much support from family, friends, faculty and small local businesses. The Bike Palace, a San Pedro bike shop, provided a support vehicle and partial funding, and Byron shaped a custom surfboard for her to paddle.
Despite the serious topic of her project, Brown managed to add a touch of humor to her commutes. She ran 16 miles in a 20-pound polar bear suit to campus (the polar bear being a mascot of sorts in the fight against global warming).
While Brown’s project was ambitious and physically draining, she is glad the physical aspect is finally finished.
“It was worth it, though,” Brown told the Long Beach Press-Telegram. “I always wanted to make art that didn’t just sit in the gallery.”
In April, Brown will display her project in a campus gallery exhibition. The exhibition will include photographs, route maps, a published book, and graphs comparing average bus and car commuting times with her finishing times.
Brown expects to receive a Master of Fine Arts degree in the spring.
