Edhat Staff
Source: County of Santa Barbara
In honor of Earth Day on Sunday, April 22, divisions of the County’s Community Services and Public Works departments have collaborated on a public visual art installation to raise awareness and encourage sustainable practices that conserve and protect our aquatic ecosystems and local water supply.
“Entangled Waters” is a public site-specific video installation presented in the archway of the Santa Barbara County Courthouse located at 1100 Anacapa Street.The installation is open to the public on the evenings of April 13 and 14, starting shortly after dusk.
Helmed by a collaborative team of local artists, the project aims to heighten public awareness of how each citizen is responsible for the health of Santa Barbara’s many watersheds and ecosystems.
This contemporary multimedia production alludes to Michelangelo’s famed panel in the Sistine Chapel known as “The Flood” featuring Poseidon and Aphrodite embedded in stone. “Entangled Waters” invokes the tangled web of humanity and sea life; as the landscape washes into the creeks and rivers. The production offers a visceral, artistic experience of our oceans filled with plastics and other pollutants.
With environmental steward Lamara Heartwell as executive producer, “Entangled Waters” features the concepts and choreography of director Robin Bisio. Installation artist Ethan Turpin is the project’s producer as well as cinematographer and editor. Underwater performances are by dancers Heartwell, Turpin, Kaita Lepore, Erick Mrazek and Kweisi Petillo. Costume design is by Anaya Cullen, with lighting and camera support provided by Carter Sisney with installation assistance by The Environment Makers. The immersive underwater installation will be accompanied by a haunting score for bass, saw and voice performed live by Jim Connolly.
The County collaboration for this unique project includes three divisions from the Community Service Department: Santa Barbara County Office of Arts and Culture, County Sustainability, and County Parks; and the Public Works Division of Water Resources.
The County provides information and resources about water conservation through WaterWiseSB and water quality protection through Project Clean Water. WaterWiseSB promotes native landscapes, water-efficient appliances and knowledge of the local watershed, which has been in a drought for the past seven years. Project Clean Water strives to change people’s behaviors to minimize urban runoff into local waterways that ultimately drain to the ocean. Water conservation also supports the County’s Energy and Climate Action Plan, which identifies actions the County and community can take to save energy, water, and money, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
I’m all for Earth Day, conservation, and environmental awareness, but WHY Why why do we create such a mess at our local event? I live near Alameda Park, and see first-hand the huge amount of traffic and trash generated by “Earth Day.” According to MTD, ridership on that day does not increase. Each year, reports on Edhat and the SB Independent often thank various groups for cleaning up X amount of trash and debris from this event. The sidewalks and curbs for blocks around the event are choked up with paper, cups, and worse yet……..”service” dog excrement. You may say, “Hey, live with it,” but I say if you are going to talk the talk, then walk the walk…..or at least take a bus to this event!!