The Marginal World
It is an ecomimetic art project curated by the Australian born twin sisters in 2005, Margaret Wertheim and Christine Wertheim, in response to anthropogenic crisis. They used the technique of crochet to mimic the curling crenelated forms of reef organisms (“Art - Crochet Coral Reef”). It’s a reminiscence of the biodiverse organisms as well as the glamorous colour that the reef once exhibited. In contrast to the bleached reef, the artists present an abundant coral reef life, which explicitly references the real Great Coral Reef. The texture of crocheted objects resembles the irregular coral surface. Crocheting symbolises an interwoven process that activists have been trying to engage more population with. The artwork educates the public what the coral reef is composed of – lobsters, fish, algae, seahorse, sponges, invertebrates, and many other ocean-dependent species, a marine ecosystem with the highest biodiversity. As the artists said, “material play builds caring publics”.
This is an artwork curated by eco-artist Aurora Robson, named The Great Indoor. Different to the Wertheim sisters, she recycled and cleaned around 15,000 plastic bottles, and used the curved shape pattern of the bottom to imitate shapes of microorganisms, deep sea creatures as well as the cellular structures of the plants (“Aurora Robson | the Great Indoors”). The magnified microscopic landscape helped to visualise the unseen world. To mimic the colour and fluorescent effect, she used nontoxic soluble paint to cover the bottles, and inserted LED lights. In her interview at the Rice Gallery, she explains that the installation was also intended to emulate the membranes in human body. The visitors could go through the tunnel to experience the intricate interior of this installation. The creative mediums evoke relatedness to this otherworldly imaginary creature, this strange yet familiar sensation helps the viewers to freely creatively associate with the numerous organisms that we can’t see. Both her artwork and the Crochet Coral Reef require tremendous amount of labour, and is interactive with the audience, which serve the similar purpose to advocate, reveal, and educate the audience about the microscopic worlds. The interlinked loops invite and join people together, unmasking the hidden interconnected webs of life – the looped world.
These images captured the underwater artwork of Jason deCaires Taylor, titled “Vicissitudes”. The artist used eco-friendly materials such as stainless steel and pH neutral cement to create sculptures. The ring of human children holding hands suggests the artistic futuristic concerns for the children, but also it brings notion of hope that involves cooperation and togetherness. The artworks also function as artificial reefs to promote marine life, providing shelter and facilitating regeneration of the habitat. The situatedness of the artwork makes it a strong ecomimesis, according to Timothy’s theory, the location and the surrounding of this artwork says more than the artwork itself (Morton 33). In the video, we can see the glinting sunlight, the fish swimming around it, and a thin layer of algae and coral that grows on the surface of the sculpture. This is a good example of intra-action, where the participants involve more than humans, a dynamic forces of the human and other organisms that are inseparably influencing each other (Barad 141).
References:
“Art - Crochet Coral Reef.” Margaret Wertheim, www.margaretwertheim.com/crochet-coral-reef.
“Aurora Robson | the Great Indoors.” Rice Gallery, www.ricegallery.org/aurora-robson.
“Aurora Robson: The Great Indoors.” YouTube, 15 Oct. 2008, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_NS1pJQfVc.
Barad, Karen. (2007). Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of
Matter and Meaning. Durham: Duke University Press, p. 141.
Haraway, Donna. “It Matters What Stories Tell Stories; It Matters Whose Stories Tell Stories.” A/B: Auto/Biography Studies, vol. 34, no. 3, Informa UK Limited, Sept. 2019, pp. 565–75. https://doi.org/10.1080/08989575.2019.1664163.
Morton, Timothy. Ecology Without Nature: Rethinking Environmental Aesthetics. First Edition, Harvard UP, 2009, p. 33.
Taylor, Jason deCaires. “Artist Galleries.” Artworks for Change, www.artworksforchange.org/portfolio/jason-decaires-taylor.
Taylor, Jason. “Jason De Caires Taylor Underwater Sculptures.” YouTube, 11 Sept. 2007, www.youtube.com/watch?v=X33698McQ7g&feature=youtu.be.
