There is nothing fun about sitting in morning rush hour, but would you rather deal with gridlock and semi-trucks, or strong currents and massive tanker ships?
This morning, Sierra Brown will begin an eight-week environmental art project of human-powered commutes to her Monday evening 7-10 p.m. class by swimming 11 miles from the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro to Cal State Long Beach.
Brown will make the 11-mile swim at 7 a.m. from Ports O’Call Village in San Pedro, which overlooks the Port of Los Angeles—the largest working port in the nation. She will be accompanied by a support boat on her journey.
“I’m anticipating the swim to be difficult. The water temperature is currently only 58 degrees, well below average, and water pollution is equally dangerous,” Brown noted. “I will be swimming 11miles nonstop through shipping lanes, currents, and changing tides, and then I will walk 1.5 miles to attend my 7-10 pm class.”
For the next eight Mondays, Brown is determined to commute to her Monday night class by various modes of non-motorized transport. She calls the project the “Port-to-Class Supercommute.”
With depleting resources and increasing fuel costs, Brown will commute to CSULB by a variety of human-powered methods, including razor scooter, sailing, swimming and a surprise mystery commute.
By land, Brown’s trip to the CSULB campus will cover 16 miles through the Wilmington area, a route that she says has its own dangers, especially heavy semi-truck traffic.
Over the following seven weeks, Brown will bike, rollerblade, paddle, razor scooter, run, sail and close out the project on Nov. 19 with a mystery human-powered commute.
The project will culminate with a gallery exhibition and a published book including maps, finish times and photographs.
For more detailed information on the “Port-to-Class Supercommute” project, visit sierragbrown.com.