Land Dive Team: Bay of Fundy is a single-channel video with sound that focuses on four people in seated meditation, breathing through scuba gear at the shore of the Bay of Fundy. The bay, which is situated at the northeast end of the Gulf of Maine between Maine, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, is known for having the highest tidal rise on the planet. Twice a day in the Minas Basin, at the head of the bay, waters can rise and fall up to fifty feet. In this Land Dive, filmed at the coast of New Brunswick, Canada, the divers sit in a row with their gaze focused in front of them. As the cold tide flows in, we see them rocked by the waves and hear the chorus of their breaths drawn through scuba regulators. Slowly, with fits and starts, the water rises on their bodies until they disappear below. Once the water level reaches the height of the regulators, the soundscape shifts from the hiss of air to the gurgle of bubbling water. In real time, the breathers sat for an hour and half until all that was left was the sign of their exhalations as bubbles hit the surface of the water. Just after we shot the video in October of 2015, the Conservation Council of New Brunswick reported that day as having the highest King Tide ever recorded in the Gulf of Maine. Such shifts in the tides, as well as changes in the temperature of the Bay of Fundy, further evoke the anxiety of catastrophic climate change that underpins the video. There is a psychological dimension to the piece operating at the personal level as well, as the breathers sit steadfast, taking breath after breath, even as the water continues to rise.

with
Jessica Bradford
Rachel Barrett
Richelle Martin
Hope Ginsburg

Camera
Matt Flowers
Jessica Carey
 
Sound
Joshua Quarles
 
Editing
Mike Olenick
 
Support provided by
 
MASS MoCA
Denise Markonish
Sean Foley
 
Temple Contemporary
Robert Blackson
Sarah Biemiller  
 
The Dive Shop
Jim McNeal
 
COJO Diving
Connie Bishop  
Joe George         
 
VCUarts Department of Photography & Film
Sasha Waters Freyer
Jon-Phillip Sheridan
 
VCUarts Art Foundation Program
Elissa Armstrong
Christine Costello
 
Film/Video Studio Program at the Wexner Center for the Arts
 
Special Thanks
Sophia Bartholomew
Jay Blankenship
Adam Blumberg
Ann Brady
Janice Wright Cheney
Jorge Colombo
John Edward Cushnie
Rachel Hilton
Bill Horrigan
Jennifer Lange
John Lyerly
Judy Muller
Peter Ramey
Denise Richard
Meghan Robertson
Claire Zitzow
 
Connexion ARC
Rauschenberg Residency / Robert Rauschenberg Foundation
 
Hope Ginsburg 2016