hoop dreams: john margaritis blends basketball with the beach

artist john margaritis blends basketball with the beach for his ‘hoop dreams’ project — an otherworldly collection of images where waves wash over backboards and chain link nets. 

what starts as an often risky, middle-of-the-night endeavor to quickly weigh down a basketball hoop underwater results in a surreal series of photos where oceans intersect inexplicably isolated hoops. as a result of this ongoing project, margaritis — a basketball player and surfer from new york — can no longer see a hoop without also imagining the ocean and waves.

oceans intersect inexplicably isolated hoops in south beach, miami 
image courtesy of akhil sesh/@akhilsesh

during miami art week 2016, the artist enacted one of these live installations at night — this time dragging a basketball hoop into the ocean and sinking it off the coast of south beach. while visiting his ‘water box’ installation at the VLONE pop-up in wynwood, margaritis told designboom about his then-secret plans, described the possible risks of his exposure and even suggested we assist…

this latest installation was eventually a successful adventure, following some initial difficulties avoiding detection in previous days. upon waking up in the morning, miami beach-goers were surprised and perplexed by a full-scale basketball hoop unnaturally situated in middle of the ocean.

image courtesy of akhil sesh/@akhilsesh

by night, the artist sinks the basketball hoop using sandbags 
image courtesy of john margaritis

these physical installations are weighed down beneath the waves with several heavy sandbags and separated from the shoreline — an outcome which forms an unusual juxtaposition between the serenity of the sea and the free-standing sports equipment. overcome by the raw and rough nature of the ocean, the twenty-one square foot rectangular backboards are presented in dreamy and dynamic compositions that meld two otherwise disparate worlds.

images from the original ‘hoop dreams’ series — completed last year — are on view at the artist’s ‘high tide’ installation + shop in wynwood, miami. 

the hoop, prior to its installation in the south beach’s ocean 
image © designboom 

miami beach-goers were surprised by a full-scale basketball hoop situated in middle of the ocean
image courtesy of @miami.fever

‘caribbean dreams’ | video by john margaritis

from the series ‘hoop dreams’ | image courtesy of john margaritis

from the series ‘hoop dreams’ | image courtesy of john margaritis

from the series ‘hoop dreams’ | image courtesy of john margaritis

behing-the-scenes ‘hoop dreams’ | image courtesy of john margaritis

image courtesy of @aaronbelchere

image courtesy of john margaritis

image courtesy of john margaritis

image courtesy of john margaritis

image courtesy of john margaritis

image courtesy of john margaritis

image courtesy of john margaritis