When I thought back on personal experiences I've had with sensory deprivation, I remembered a late winter night at my cousins' neighbor's house. We were using their hot tub and took dares to jump into the ice cold swimming pool and then get back into the tub. We repeated this over and over again. After a few rotations, the pool's cold seemed to lose its effect and the same thing happened with the hot tub. Neither extreme heat or cold seemed to have an effect on me.
I decided to recreate this experience that hadn't occurred with me since. On January 21st, I visited Baker Hot Springs, near Delta, Utah. It was below freezing outside and had snowed the night before. The springs were scalding hot and I had to slowly acclimate to them. I jumped in and out of the springs over and over again and the effect from my childhood was repeated. The more I switched between the two extremes, the less I felt it. After about seven or eight repetitions I was immune to the shock of going back and forth. The feeling wasn't quite numb, it actually felt really good - kind of like after yoga or a massage. Even when I was out for an extended time to dry off and change in the cold air and wind, I felt completely comfortable.
To record the experience/performance, I had a friend take a burst of photographs every time I emerged from and returned to the hot water. I did this because I wanted to capture the moment or moments in which my body was transitioning between the different environments and eventually becoming numb to them. I then took these photo bursts and overlaid them in chronological groups with low transparencies so as to show the movement of the action.
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