On the Autumnal Equinox — 22 September, 2020, at 13:30 UTC — 20 artists walked simultaneously for 1 astronomical unit, or the time it takes light from the sun to reach earth (499 seconds).
Created and organized by Ava Fedorov, the apparent simplicity of the collaborative performance art piece, Equinox Crossing, belies the profound act that both walking and synchronous action can become. As Timothy Schuler wrote in What it Means to Walk, “no matter why we do it, walking tends to offer us something beyond its express purpose, an extra layer of experience and meaning that is all too often ignored.” This work examines those layers of meaning, creating a feeling of connection and human-ness beyond the boundaries of geography.
The Autumnal Equinox (known as Alo Piko o Wākea in Hawai’i) occurs at the same moment everywhere on the planet, when the earth’s equator crosses over the direct center of the sun. In Equinox Crossing, at the instance of the equinox, 20 artists located all over the world walked simultaneously from their front doors and silently through their neighborhoods with their cameras pointed outward. The walk’s duration occurred for 1 astronomical unit, or approximately 8.5 minutes, which is the time it takes light from the sun to reach earth. All 20 walks were simultaneously live streamed on zoom, youtube, and facebook on September 22, 2020 at 13:30 UTC. Participating artists were in locations that included: Lima, Peru; Berlin, Germany; Chiang Mai, Thailand; Nizhny Novgorod, Russia; Mumbai, India; Brooklyn, New York; Tel Aviv, Israel; and Portland, Oregon; as well as Honolulu, Hawai’i.
Our current era—one of pandemic-driven anxiety, isolation, racism, climate crisis-fueled natural disasters, and disembodiment within the "virtual" world—seems to yearn for simple human connection while calling for us to understand the vast, global organism that we are all part of. This performance of together walking separately through our individual landscapes is a reminder that the land under our feet is a shared entity, a body that, in turn, connects all of us, human and non-human bodies. It asks both viewer and performer to pay close attention to the world, our home, and to acknowledge that implicit bond we have. Though emphasis is placed on the physical action of walking, it is, ironically, the virtual space that allows this unique experience of synchronicity. It is through the mutual understanding of the physicality of place, then, that we can virtually see the universal in the individual and experience the tenderness and essentialness of that connection.
The live performance of this piece was open to the public to watch in real time during the equinox. The unedited video documentation (below) is also posted on youtube.
List of Artist locations and Equinox local times:
Hawaii, USA 3:30 AM
Portland, USA 6:30 AM
Puebla, Mexico 8:30 AM (no video)
Kansas City, USA 8:30 AM
Austin, USA 8:30 AM
Lima, Peru 8:30 AM
Chicago, USA 8:30 AM
New York, USA 9:30 AM
Westford, USA 9:30 AM
St Thomas, Virgin Islands 9:30 AM
Wicklow, Ireland 2:30 PM
Corsica, France 3:30 PM (no video)
Berlin, Germany 3:30 PM
Nairobi, Kenya 4:30 PM
Tel Aviv, Israel 4:30 PM
Nizhny Novgorod, Russia 4:30 PM
Mumbai, India 7:00 PM
Chiang Mai, Thailand 8:30 PM
Taipei, Taiwan 9:30 PM
Melbourne, Australia 11:30 PM
Read coverage of Equinox Crossing: The Honolulu Museum of Art