Shoreline Access
A new game of beach volleyball, one that includes two nets, is held on a beach in Rhode Island. The current Rhode Island law, passed in 1982, establishes the public-private boundary of shoreline as being the “average high-tide line in an 18.6 year cycle”—a line that is impossible for the average beach-goer to identify and one that is changing with rising sea levels. This line is also frequently challenged or dismissed by beachfront property owners who would like their beach to be private. The most recent law proposed in March 2020, if implemented, would secure the public’s right to shoreline by decriminalizing trespassing within 10 feet of the most recent-high tide line, ostensibly making more shoreline into public property.
This performance was held on the beach where, several months prior, I was illegally told to leave. This performance is a visualization of how an additional 10 feet of public shoreline could be experienced. Members of the public joined in a socially-distanced new game of volleyball.
RISD Beach, Rhode Island
October 2020