It will be an SOS message, a call to “Save Our Seas.”
A unique “social sculpture” art exhibit will happen in Laguna Beach on Nov. 9, with 800 participants coming together to form the Morse code symbols for SOS, a first-of-its-kind participatory installation held as part of the Laguna Art Museum’s Art+Nature exhibition.
Artist Ana Theresa Fernández’s vision will have each person positioned on the city’s Main Beach holding up mirrors to reflect the ocean, sky and sun.
“How can we become the ocean and speak for the ocean?” the San Francisco-based artist asked. “There’s this long, beautiful history of humans using mirrors to communicate. This light language is the most universal that exists on the planet.”
The installation will be part of Art+Nature, a weeklong event at the museum that kicks off Nov. 1, featuring a sustainable fashion show, indoor and outdoor exhibitions, immersive activities, a swim presentation and several more events.
In addition, the museum has free entry all of November, courtesy of a county grant allocated by Fifth District Supervisor Katrnia Foley.
This year’s events and exhibitions invite the community to “engage with the natural world in bold new ways, reflecting our commitment to inspiring dialogue, awareness and action through art,” Julie Perlin Lee, executive director of the Laguna Art Museum, said in an announcement about Art+Nature, now in its 13th year.
“Upcycled Couture: Restoring the Future Runway Show,” an innovative runway show put on by students and early-career designers, will open the week on Saturday, Nov. 1.
On Sunday, Nov. 2, there will be a block party at Main Beach featuring local nonprofits, vendors and family art activities.
Fernández’s multi-dimensional project, SOS, will be unveiled in several ways, incorporating sculpture, performance and photography.
She will be on hand at the museum for an artist talk on Nov. 6, just ahead of the First Thursday Artwalk.
There will be an SOS performance by Laguna Dance at Main Beach from 3:15 to 5 p.m. on Nov. 7. Then, on Nov. 8, there will be a related artistic swimming performance at Laguna Beach High School.
Then, the big gathering will be at 10:30 a.m. on Nov. 9, when 800 participants are expected to create Fernández’s social sculpture SOS. The effort will be filmed and a video and photographs will be displayed at the museum at a later date.
For the SOS “social sculpture,” each symbol will have 80 to 90 people, an “abstract drawing,” Fernández called it.
“We’re speaking for the ocean – save our shoreline, save our seas, save our species,” she said. “You can put in whatever you want for the acronym.”
Museum marketing coordinator Ryan Tuffnell said Art+Nature is the museum’s signature initiative that happens each year in November to celebrate the interaction between art and nature.
Each year, an artist is commissioned to do an outdoor installation at Main Beach or Heisler Park.
“The museum is located right at the beach so we try to take advantage of that, see how we can challenge our artists to use art to interact with it and have the public view the ocean and different parts of our environment through a new lens,” Tuffnell said. “The whole idea is to address the nature of our changing environment and climate through each different artist’s perspective.”
The final activity will be a SOS paddle out at 10 a.m. on Nov. 10 from Main Beach.
Tuffnell said Art+Nature honors the museum’s founders in 1918 who often painted the ocean, beach and environment.
“This is a new, modern way to feature that relationship between art and this beautiful, natural beach we are near,” he said.
Fernández, originally from Mexico before moving to San Francisco 20 years ago, said she grew up near the beach along the gulf, and remembers the smell of oil refineries mixing with the saltwater air.
Her focus on the ocean isn’t just through her artwork, but also her actions. She regularly brings kids from inner cities to the coast, providing wetsuits and other gear needed to enjoy a day at the beach.
“So often, especially along coastal California, there is a lot of the population that doesn’t get to experience the ocean,” she said. “It’s imperative for everyone to have this experience and feel connected to the ocean.”
As a surfer, she knows how much the ocean has done for her own life enrichment, she said, also talking about challenges the ocean is facing.
“As an ocean lover and an artist who loves to work on shorelines, this is a dream project to be able to get people excited to talk about the environment,” she said. “The ocean awareness, ocean protection, and making it through art as a collective endeavor, what a gift, especially at such a dire moment.”