Carry Home With You is the first iteration of a thought experiment begun this past summer as we experienced persistent high water levels in the streets of Richmond over the course of a few days of heavy rain. How would I traverse a perpetually flooded Richmond? Or the east coast for that matter? If the world as we know it collapses due to a lack of infrastructure suitable for the rising tides of climate change, we will need another means of traveling and living.
I turned to my musings as a child and my great desire to create a secret home in the arches of the Henry Avenue Bridge outside of Philadelphia. Each time we drove to the city under those arches, I would build a new series of rope ladders, carve niches to hold cooking fires, determine which arches would be best in which to build a library, bedroom, and garden. My five year old self immediately suggested a kayak to easily navigate more narrow streets in the Fan District, with wheels on tracks that could be swiftly lowered when the boat came to high ground.
A hammock to sleep in, tied off on the mast equipped with a sail (vital for any long-distance travel when on elevated roadways). A secondary mast off the stern allows for greater storage of items that are capable of hanging including, of course, a basket for the most necessary item of all - your house cat.