Gifts From The Sea with Mark Cunningham | Find Your Outerknown

They say that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, but as retired North Shore lifeguard-turned-artist Mark Cunningham shows us in the short film “Gifts from the Sea,” there’s a lot more to the story than that. “The art I make is a reflection of my love of the ocean,” says Mark. “A lot of it shows the passage of time. These are manmade objects that’ve been hammered and weathered and pounded by the ocean, drifting out at sea for months or years at a time, and they show that passage. They also show us that, boy, us surfers can sure leave a lot of crap in the ocean if we aren’t careful.” On a clear, cool day in December, I sat down with Mark in his home on a ridge overlooking the ocean to learn more about his journey as a waterman and artist. Mark’s a multiple world champion bodysurfer, too, by the way. Rifling through buckets of beachcombed debris, we also pondered how humans might correct this pattern of waste. A hint? Perhaps our grandmothers had the answer all along... Read Mark's Journey Story with his full interview on our Blog: https://bit.ly/3Y1hAXZ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/outerknown https://www.instagram.com/kkandmc