Silent Evolution

Vicissitudes

Anthropocene

Banker

Man on Fire

Dream Collector

The Lost Correspondent

Grenada

Land

*All images and video were found at Jason deCaires Taylor’s website.

The life-size pieces were created to honor the African slaves who either were forced thrown overboard, or jumped on they own to escape bondage and torture on they way to America.

They are truly beautiful to behold. The detail is unbelievable, and when you get into the moment, I think you’ll know what I mean.

There are about 80 of them; all created out of artificial reefs disguised as sculptures, actually.  And underwater. 

I think that is soooooo phuckn tha shyt!!!)@&$$%_€¥>¥!!!!

They located off the coast of Molilnere Bay in the waters of Grenada.  

Sunlight penetratin’ the water at different depths and angles, and the water currents movin’ are said to cast the most enchantin’ kalidiscope…

Check this guy out.  He has other projects, equally awesome…

Jason deCaires Taylor

That said, now that I have learnt about this underwater wonder, Cancun has won a few more brownie points. Considering that I lived and worked a whole two months in the Riviera Maya area without any knowledge of it’s underwater playground, I’m willing to give Cancun another chance.

Who knows what other wonders could be found there with a little exploration?

The MUSA of Museo Subacuático de Arte was a project started in 2009 and features of 450 life size figures by Jason deCaires Taylor and is suitable for both divers and snorkelers.  

Images by Coventur DMC

Cancún Underwater Museum.

Today we’re talking about… the Cancún Underwater Museum.

I have been to Cancún several times but I’m really looking forward to going back to see the amazing Cancún Underwater Museum up close and in person.  The project began in 2009 when a sculpture series of one hundred statues by Jason deCaires Taylor were placed underwater in an area of the Cancún National Marine Park.  The installation now includes over 400 sculptures and from pictures it looks absolutely amazing!

Visitors can view the life size sculptures that are designed to become artificial reefs by scuba diving, snorkeling or viewing the area from a glass-bottom boat.  The best part is the sculpture reefs will change as time goes by so you can visit again and again and see something new.

For more information on the museum, visit Cancún travel.

Have you been to the Cancún Underwater Museum?  We’d love to hear your story.

The Silent Evolution

The Lost Correspondent

Recent posts depicting collections of the underwater sculptures have been sufacing on the web stating the sculptures are in honor of African Ancestors who were thrown overboard the slave ships during the Middle Passage of the African Holocaust.  While I have yet to find the facts of this particular statement; (I have not come across a particiular collection with that story line as of yet)  not to say it isn’t true, but in the meantime I have found information on the creator of the underwater sculptures and the stories behind a few of them.

Please read on and in the end feel free to comment and share any pertinent findings.

Jason deCaires Taylor is an internationally acclaimed eco-sculptor who creates underwater living sculptures, offering viewers mysterious, ephemeral encounters and fleeting glimmers of another world where art develops from the effects of nature on the efforts of man. His site-specific, permanent installations are designed to act as artificial reefs, attracting corals, increasing marine biomass and aggregating fish species, while crucially diverting tourists away from fragile natural reefs and thus providing space for natural rejuvenation. Subject to the abstract metamorphosis of the underwater environment, his works symbolize a striking symbiosis between man and nature, balancing messages of hope and loss.

Taylor’s sculptures change over time with the effects of their environment. These factors create a living aspect to the works, which would be impossible to reproduce artificially. As time passes and the works develop biological growth, they redefine the underwater landscape, evolving within the narrative of nature.

Taylor’s interventions instigate organic growth and transformation. Taylor states, “It’s environmental evolution, art intervention as growth, or a balancing of relationships.” Taylor’s most ambitious work to date — The Silent Evolution (2010), forms a permanent monumental artificial reef in Mexico. Occupying an area of over 420 square meters and with a total weight of over 200 tons, it consists of 400 life-size casts of individuals taken from a broad cross section of humanity and has been designed to aggregate fish and corals on a grand scale. Slowly but surely these sculptures are evolving, a fur of algae on a girl’s cheek, a starfish on a nun’s face, The Silent Evolution reveals the imperceptible changes of nature on human artifice. Eventually this underwater society will be totally assimilated by marine life, transformed to another state—a challenging metaphor for the future of our own species.

Loss and fragility are another inherent theme of Taylor’s work, the impetus behind his creation of underwater sculpture Museums and many of his individual works. He explains, “Over the last 20 years, our generation has encountered rapid change; technologically, culturally and geographically. I feel this has left us with an underlying sense of loss. My work tries to record some of those moments.” The Lost Correspondent (2006) echoes these sentiments. Immersed at a depth of 8 meters in Grenada, a man sits at his desk, his hands hovering over the typewriter, poised in eternal deliberation. He is a forgotten relic, like his typewriter—an antique, superseded by modern technology.

Taylor’s sculptures—a synthesis of art and science—are made with carefully researched environmentally-friendly materials which actively promote coral growth, with inert Ph neutral properties designed to last hundreds of years. Working with Marine biologists, Taylor employs the latest research in creating habitat spaces designed to encourage specific forms of marine life. In The Anthropocene (2011), a life size replica of the classic Volkswagan Beetle encloses a “Lobster City”, designed to attract crustaceans. Inercia (2011) depicts a man on a couch watching television, ignorant of our environmental crisis; yet the television provides a habitat space for juvenile fish. Man on Fire (2009) and The Gardener of Hope (2009) have both been propagated with corals rescued after tropical storms or damaged by human activity. Anthropocene and Inercia both “explore the significant impact humans have had on our planet’s ecosystems and the subsequent effect to future generations,” balancing a potent message with a regenerative purpose.

Although constituting only 8% of our oceans, shallow seas contain most of the marine life on planet earth. By situating his sculptures in clear, shallow, barren areas, Taylor not only replicates the conditions necessary to stimulate coral growth but ensures divers, snorkelers and those aboard glass bottom boats the opportunity to view his works. Underwater, everything is magnified by 25%, light refracts, colors are changed and—as the only light source comes from the surface—kaleidoscopic effects are produced, governed by currents and turbulence. Taylor states, “Taking art off of the white walls of a gallery offers the viewer a sense of discovery and participation.” Underwater, one has a truly multi-dimensional and multi- sensual experience, free from the confines of gravity and offering a viewing perspective that is both intimate and personal.

Over the past few decades, we have lost over 40% of our natural coral reefs. Scientists predict a permanent demise of 80% by 2050. Jason de Caires Taylor’s art is an example of generative human intervention in the ecosystem, showing what can be accomplished by individual imagination and collective effort. Taylor’s strategy of conserving reefs, opposes the “land as commodity” mentality of Capitalism. His creation of underwater sculpture parks attracts tourists away from natural reefs, allowing them to recover, and taps into tourism revenue, showing how activists might be able to use the system’s rapacious tendencies against itself. His exceptional works are designed “to promote the regeneration of marine life and to use sculpture as a means of conveying hope and awareness of the plight of our oceans” before it is too late.

In 2006, Jason deCaires Taylor founded and created the world’s first underwater sculpture park. Situated off the coast of Grenada in the West Indies it is now listed as one of the Top 25 Wonders of the World by National Geographic. His latest creation is MUSA (Museo Subaquatico de Arte), a monumental museum with a collection of over 450 public sculptural works, submerged off the coast of Cancun, Mexico; described by Forbes as one of the world’s most unique travel destinations. Both these ambitious, permanent public works have a practical, functional aspect, facilitating positive interactions between people and fragile underwater habitats while at the same relieving pressure on natural resources.

Taylor’s art is like no other, a paradox of creation, constructed to be assimilated by the ocean and transformed from inert objects into living breathing coral reefs, portraying human intervention as both positive and life-encouraging. Numerous publications and documentaries have featured his extraordinary work, including the BBC, CNN, USA Today, the Guardian, Vogue, New Scientist and the Discovery Channel, yet nothing can quite do justice to the ephemeral nature of his art; for each actual visit to his sites is both unique and subject to the dynamic, fluctuating environment of the ocean.

For more on the Grenada Underwater sculpture project visit:  http://www.underwatersculpture.com/index.asp

Something as simple as submerging sculptures in the ocean is immediately poignant and poetic; he literally shifts context into another form of matter and as a result, is cultivating beauty in a different dimension than the previously programmed “art reality”.

Over time, his works develop into artificial coral reefs. Taylor integrates his skills as a conservationist, underwater photographer and scuba diving instructor to produce unique installations that encourage the habitation and growth of corals and marine life. His early work is located in the world´s first public underwater sculpture park in Molinere Bay, Grenada, West Indies.

And more recently, his most ambitious project to date is the creation of the world’s largest underwater sculpture museum, MUSA, situated off the coast of Cancun and the western coast of Isla Mujeres. Works in the museum include Hombre en llamas (Man on Fire ), La Jardinera de la Esperanza (The Gardener of Hope), El Colecionista de los Sueños (The Dream Collector) and La Evolución Silenciosa (The Silent Evolution).

Just one more reason for me to learn how to scuba dive!

Art has a long history of escaping the traditional museum or gallery setting, but we’ve never seen anything like this- behold: 400+ sculptures installed in the National Marine Park of Cancún, Isla Mujeres, and Punta Nizuc by Jason deCaires Taylor, with an environmental/social agenda in mind…these are a few of our favorite things! [via Legazpi Fab Moda]

The other night I was literally wowing myself thinking about how crazy it is that I’m a human being. I know it sounds super dumb. That’s one of the first things we learn when we’re little–I am a person. But really, think of all the other living things you could have been born as. I think everything has a spirit. I could have been born as a cat. But instead I’m able to think, have opinions, get dressed, laugh, make blog posts. I mean, it’s endless the things that we are able to do. Bill Bryson mentioned how we were all made up of atoms. Doesn’t that freak you out? It makes me want to huddle in the corner of the room and rock back and forth. Everything is made of atoms. Why do we know that? HOW do we know that? You can’t see atoms. How are humans so smart?

I read this last night and I loved it:

Not only have you been lucky enough to be attached since time immemorial to a favored evolutionary line, but you have also been extremely–make that miraculously–fortunate in your personal ancestry. Consider the fact that for 3.8 billion years, a period of time older than the Earth’s mountains and rivers and oceans, every one of your forebears on both sides has been attractive enough to find a mate, healthy enough to reproduce, and sufficiently blessed by fate and circumstances to live long enough to do so. Not one of your pertinent ancestors was squashed, devoured, drowned, starved, stranded, stuck fast, untimely wounded, or otherwise deflected from its life’s quest of delivering a tiny charge of genetic material to the right partner at the right moment in order to perpetuate the only possible sequence of hereditary combinations that could result–eventually, astoundingly, and all too briefly–in you.

It’s crazy to think about. I’m sure some people are like, yeah yeah, everyone on this planet is human–it’s not that crazy. BUT IT IS.

Have you ever been inside a Cathedral and marveled at it’s grandeur? Or been to a museum and stood in awe of brilliant works of art? It’s kind of amazing how things like that can make you feel so small. I remember feeling that way when I was in Venice right after I exited St. Mark’s Basilica. I can recall thinking, I’m in a city that’s floating on the water. WHAT IS LIFE?!

I browse online for cool stuff all the time. I’ve come across some truly wonderful discoveries, like this: Sand under a microscope.

When I first saw this, I almost cried. How have we been walking around, not knowing the beauty that was beneath our feet? It’s almost like it’s a joke. Everyone hates sand, but they don’t know how beautiful it really is. I know I sound super cheesy, but just look at it!

I was also wowed by this: Jason deCaires Taylor’s Underwater Sculptures.

He took sculptures to a whole new level. By allowing sea life to grow on them, adding color, and making his work even more beautiful and pure. Let’s be real, sculpting is one of the most difficult forms of art. My brain literally hurts when I think of artists chiseling away at what would be the material draped across a statue’s body. Taylor’s work adds another element. To see his work, you have to go beneath the surface. Imagine how quiet it is when you’re viewing them. Such an original and amazing idea.

And lastly, just consider our universe for a minute. Astronomer Geoffrey Marcy said, “They’re all on the same plane. They’re all going around in the same direction…It’s perfect you know. It’s gorgeous. It’s almost uncanny.” while describing the solar system. It’s too perfect to be just “a coincidence”. Did you know that there are as many stars as their are grains of sand? Just let that sink in for a minute. Did you also know that the light from stars that we see every night is thousands of years old and all of those stars are already gone? Mind blown.

Jason deCaires Taylor

He is British Yo!!

Truly in my opinion,
the best modern day sculptor. 

Now you may ask, L.J what the hell do you know about sculpture and I will be frank with you my friends, diddly squat!

I know not how you take a lump of coal and fashion it into a beautiful diamond, I know not how to use a whizzing spinnign very sharp blade to delicately carve intricate features, I do however know how to shape a milkshake carton out of blu-tac (thank you duration of my psycholody AS exam!).

I may not be an expert in the art of sculpture but I, as an admirer of art I feel I can tell when someone is displaying true talent and Jason certainly does that!

The majority of his works are mainly in Cancun, staged as the underwater museum called MUSA (Museo Subacuático de Arte) a project founded by Jaime Gonzalez Cano of The National Marine Park, Roberto Diaz of The Cancun Nautical Association and Jason deCaires Taylor, located in the waters surrounding Cancun, Isla Mujeres and Punta Nizuc, now, here comes the clever bit. 

The sculptures are as much entertainment for the scuba divers who flock to the mexican shores as they are a viable environment to sustain and improve the coral reef that resides in the waters.

Jason’s sculptures provide a beautifully clever alternative to the possibility of losing the reefs and act as an artificial reef, encouraging plants, coral and sealife into the otherwise vacant area.

All of Jason’s works really tell a story and get to the heart of us as a modern species, from a couch potato enjoying a snack, to an exact replica of a Vaulkswagen Beetle, all of Jason’s pieces in some way open a doorway to our world that in years to come will be studied and analysed to figure out who we were!

The piece that I find the most awe-inspiring and let’s face it most impressive, is the piece named The Silent Evolution.

403 life sized, TO SCALE, figures.
Occupying 402 square meters of the sea bed, cast from real life humans. 

The spookiest, creepiest yet strangely calming piece of art I have ever come across, it’s effect on me was phenomenol, I honestly could never imagine swimming up to life sized people underwater, like forgotten people. 

Their atmosphere is so quiet, their demeanour so epically strange it honestly took my breath away.

Can you imagine getting lost underwater and coming across this?

Or being in the year 3012 and discovering these figures cloaked in precious coral and protected by creatures of the deep?

…it’s oddly unsettling.

He also has some works here in the UK, in Canterbury none-the-less (totally going to have to take Poison Ivy!!)

His swimming figures again are haunting to me, almost like ghosts, I really cannot work out why his sculptures really freak me out but in such a satisfying way.

I have included lots of pictures of which ALL RIGHTS GO TO JASON DECAIRES TAYLOR.

They are all from his website and I have used them simply because he has the best ones!!

Please check out his website HERE it’s full of information on, the man, the myth, the ARTISTE…

 that is Jason deCaires Taylor and I’ve also added a little video so you can see the work that goes into just one of these sculptures.

Jason really is repping it for the Brits, and just goes to show that with a bit of inginuity we can all do our bit to help this planet out!

Happy Blogging, Cheers for Reading.

L.J.Simms x

WORDS: Akinloye Ogundipe, Jr., a son of the landmass known as Africa and the people collectively known as the Africans 

IMAGES: Silent Evolution, an Underwater Sculpture Installation by Jason deCaires Taylor (Grenada, West Indies + Mexico)

It would be better to live a life of struggle for our continent than a life of ease in the service of another land. We may debate about the name of our land. Did we choose this name? Is this the name we want? If so, why?

But we cannot deny that the landmass currently known as Africa is the landmass of the people collectively known as the Africans. It is also undeniable that though there are many subcultures within our land, there are common historical, linguistic, and cultural threads that form the unified twine of a shared African culture.

Clearly, our land is filled with many beautiful things; its treasures innumerable (upright people, marvelous intellect, a rich geography, etc.). Yet, it is also clear that disorder permeates our land and, unfortunately, this is not new. Alien ways have masqueraded as the norm for a long time.

Those from among us in positions of heightened responsibility betray us. Those from foreign lands sow seeds of dissension between us for the purpose of exploiting our collective resources. Sadly, the worst of the plague that has befallen our land is our reaction to the disorder in which we are immersed.

In the midst of this chaos many of us have abandoned our land; many of those who have left dream of never having to return to live out the day-to-day grind and many of those that have not left dream of doing so one day. Some of those that stay at home, beat into submission, simply suffer the status quo.

The reason is clear; the conditions in our land have created an environment that is not conducive to achieving the fulfilling lives that Africans could be living if a sense of order and unity prevailed. In turn, we invest high levels of energy in various forms of escape both psychological and physical; from the creation of foreign inspired edifices to the annual trails of death our youth traverse to seek occupations in other lands. In this climate there is only room for one occupation for African youth, an occupation open to all of us, the use of our skills in the loving reclamation of our land.

We must love our homeland. People who love their home and the family members within it do not dream a dream of solitary escape in the face of trouble. Rather, people of honor with a modicum of dignity in this situation seek to stop, repel, and eliminate the things threatening that which they love.

We can be these people. We must be these people. We must not be afraid to set our land right. It is ours and our fate is intricately tied to it. Thomas Sankara informed us that in the face of aggression towards our land and people we had two choices: Homeland or Death.

Though we may have fooled ourselves into believing that we have options other than Thomas Sankara’s stark dichotomy, current events continually reify that this is a delusion: land grabs, foreign militarization (AFRICOM) and environmental degradation. As these occurrences are leading some analysts to posit that we are facing the Second Scramble for Africa it is clear that we are still faced with the options of homeland or death. We are dying senselessly now so we have nothing to lose and only our homeland to gain.

Next correspondence: The Lessons that the Chinese Household Responsibility System Teach Us About the Shortcomings of the Ujamaa System

Akinloye Ogundipe, Jr. / @citizenofafrica

Jason deCaires Taylor / http://www.underwatersculpture.com

Jason DeCaires Taylor, The Gardener, detail of the face, 2010. Source: http://www.underwatersculpture.com

It’s the time of the month again, when I introduce a fantastic & talented Artist of the Month to you! Listen to Colourful Radio on Thursday, 17th May 2012 at 12.10pm, where I, in my monthly slot featured as a part of Rosemary Laryea‘s  Art and Culture Show, will introduce amazing work of Jason DeCaires Taylor. If you miss it, don’t worry, you can listen to it again here after. You might ask, why do I choose artists I do? All six previous Artists of the Month have something in their work that directly speaks to me. Sometimes it is the processes they use, another time, I love what’s going on conceptually, but always, it’s more than an aesthetic decision. Today’s seventh artist is Jason DeCaires Taylor. My reasons to choose him had been based on many aspects of his sculptural and photographic  language. One of the most important is the ecological dimension in Taylor’s fascinating under-water, under-sea sculptures!

—————————–Listen to the Artist of the Month above——————————-

He is a British eco-sculptor, photographer, founder and creator of the world’s first underwater sculpture park situated off the coast of Grenada in the West Indies, also a founder and Artistic Director of the Museo Subaquatico de Arte (MUSA) – in Cancun, Mexico.

I talked to Taylor via the internet, he was logged on in Cancun in Mexico, and I in London. For a good half an hour, we discussed some themes of his sculpting processes, I was also curious about the very beginning of producing the cement sculptures. Taylor’s told me, that at the very start, he picked up a standard bag of cement from a local builder’s store and produced hand size sculptures. After that, he took those to the shallow sea, and he’d photograph them from various angles and in different places, to see how they would react to water, and the light. Why I mention this, is to illustrate, that there is always a beginning, there is an idea. Today, Taylor needs to use large cranes, boats and heavy machinery to install his up to 4 ton heavy pieces under the sea!

Listener, latest project of Jason DeCaires Taylor and Marine Biologist Heather Spence of The BioMusic Research Group at the University of North Carolina and pupils from Cancun Community College, is fitted with a revolutionary NOAA-designed hydrophone, which when submerged is recording and collecting live sound data from the reef environment. Source: http://www.underwatersculpture.com

I had the honour to talk to Taylor about his latest work,  being one of the first broadcasters to hear it from the creator himself, was a true privilege. In fact, our interview was supposed to happen the previous evening, 8th May. It had been moved to 9th, due to good conditions to install his three new pieces, which had been cancelled previously 40 times! It shows you how difficult and challenging installations can get under the ‘weightless’ outdoor, underwater conditions. Wind, sea, the weight of sculptures and a human aspect of installing work play a massive role. The sculptures brougth down to the bottom of the sea on 8th May, were Listener (see the image above), Angel and Last Supper. Angel is a figurative sculpture of a woman with the implanted recycled live fan corals. Those were found poped up washed out on the shores after a storm. This is a form of recycling, I haven’t seen before, creating a kinetic sculpture, where its wings move, flow under the sea in the streams. Last Supper, as described by the artist, is a table with food, plates, half eaten fish, fruit, bringing overfishing to our attention, and focuses on urgency for the positive change, if it’s not too late…

Jason DeCaires Taylor, Silent Evolution,
Depth 8m, MUSA Collection, Cancun/Isla Mujeres, Mexico. Source: http://www.underwatersculpture.com

I’m going to share a trick I’ve heard from Taylor. When he adds the textures to his concrete sculptures, it’s his way of bringing the dimensions in his work. Imagining, what the piece can change into, under the sea, when the corals can attach and grow on the surface. Smoother it is, least likely something will attach, so, Taylor told me, he leaves the faces smooth as possible, however head, body and other are good for coral hair, sea-weed clothes and plants around the figure to grow.

I hope I caught your attention, as Jason DeCaires Taylor truly deserves to be looked at properly! You can see his works internationally. In United Kingdom see his art in Canterbury, Kent. Alluvia is a sculpture consisting of two female figures, cast in cement and recycled glass resin. Positioned within sight of the Westgate Bridge and its adjoining gardens. Inverted solitude is a lone figure suspended upside down beneath a floating platform in The National Diving and Activities Centre, Chepstow, UK. If you are in New York, a major solo exhibition of Taylor’s work will start on Jun 30 — Jul 28, 2012 in Jonathan Levine Gallery, including some of his photo-prints, sculptures preserved in resin and the latest video. To see his work as it should be you must dive down to observe them either at Grenada, Cancun and other locations. 

Thanks for reading! Listen to Silvia Krupinska’s Artist of the Month, 17th May, 12.10, come back to this site if you miss it, and have a good look around Jason DeCaires Taylor’s website http://www.underwatersculpture.com/

(*much more durable cement, ph neutral, with additives for better flow, suitable for harsh environments, developed with scientists.)

Cheers

Silvia

Jason deCaires Taylor

Sculptures are often found in museums, or within huge, wide open parks where people can walk around them, touch them, and really get a sense of what they’re all about. Sometimes they’re found in the lobbies of towering skyscrapers, or the foyers of densely packed office buildings, or even in the homes of wealthy collectors, eager to show off their newest piece. This is where we expect to find sculpture; this is where we think people will appreciate it.

Not beneath the sea.

But that’s where you’ll find some of Jason deCaires Taylor’s best work.  Indeed, beneath twelve feet of pristine Cancun seawater, a hop skip and a jump away from the National Marine Park located off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, Taylor’s PH neutral, concrete sculpture dominates the landscape…er, seascape.

The concrete, combined with broken shards of coral from damaged reefs nearby, serves not only as the principal element in Taylor’s beautiful underwater sculpture, but also as an artificial reef for literally scores of sea animals.  Add to that the fact that over 750,000 swimmers, divers, and snorkelers visit the National Marine Park every year—a boon for the economy but a burden on the ecosystem—and you have yourself a nice little diversion that alleviates some of the burden, yet still entertains the hundreds of thousands of tourists that visit the shores of Cancun every year.

LIKU-LIKU (ZIGZAG) by Colleen Flanigan (photo: Wolf Hilbertz)

The ocean is a living organism, which means it is regenerating all the time. Visual and performance artist Colleen Flanigan helps the process along with her underwater Biorocks, sculptural metal matrixes that use low-voltage electric current to raise the pH of seawater. The higher alkalinity attracts limestone minerals that adhere to the metal, giving live corals the calcium carbonate they require to grow their exoskeletons. 

Flanigan’s interventions are needed, because global warming is raising the temperatures of the oceans, which lowers the natural alkalinity and kills off coral reefs, habitats for many marine creatures. She explains:

Corals are endangered. Ocean animals need homes…. Since corals need calcium carbonate to build their exoskeletons, this process gives them an extra boost, a life supporting substrate to better withstand environmental stresses currently endangering, bleaching and killing them. In the increasingly warming and acidifying ocean, Biorock sculptures supply corals with a localized alkaline environment. Soon fish and other creatures move into the new artsy neighborhoods.

Maria Popova, editor of one of my favorite websites, BrainPickings.org, has said Flanigan’s work “embodies our highest ideals, a beautiful cross-pollination of art, science and moral imagination.” The TED Fellow has just been invited to contribute her artworks to the Museo Subacuático de Arte in Cancun and Isla Mujeres, Mexico, which hosts 750,000 visitors yearly. The world’s first underwater museum, founded by underwater sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor in 2009, MUSA features submerged artworks that will become artificial reefs for the area’s submarine life. 

For more about Flanigan’s environmental “artivism,” watch her delightful three-minute Kickstarter video, “Living Sea Sculpture.”

“Carving cement instead of stone and supervising cranes while in full scuba gear to create artificial reefs submerged below the surface of the Caribbean Sea, the various strands of his diverse life resolve themselves convincingly in the development of his underwater sculptures. These ambitious, public works have a practical, functional aspect, facilitating positive interactions between people and fragile underwater habitats.” excerpt from biography on underwatersculpture.com

All images from Underwatersculpture.com, Jason deCaires Taylor

http://www.underwatersculpture.com/

Jason deCaires Taylor has gained significant interest and recognition for his unique work, with articles in over 1000 publications around the world, including National Geographic, Vogue, USA Today, Daily Telegraph and The Guardian. His sculptures have aired on television features and documentaries with CNN, Discovery Channel, BBC, Metropolis Art Lounge and Thalassa. His international reputation was established in May 2006, when he created the world’s first underwater sculpture park in Grenada, West Indies, leading to both private and public commissions. Taylor is currently founder and Artistic Director of the Museo Subacuático de Arte (MUSA) in Cancun, Mexico.

The Garden of Hope)

So I have a short period of time now that I am able to post! It is going to be a very short post but a post none the less. I have my Roman history exam tomorrow and am feeling pretty good about it, hence the break!

I am now back at home in Milwaukee, and feeling pretty good after my weekend getaway. I needed some time to get my energy back to a good place and to stabilize. It has been so long since my sense of peace and happiness has been centered in myself, that it’s a big relief to start being a joyful and exuberant soul again. This weekend was a good start on the road of recovery.

Anyways, on to number 16 in my list!

16. La Evolución Silenciosa (The Silent Evolution) by Jason deCaires Taylor

Cancun/Isla Mujeres, Mexico

The Silent Evolution is a series of life size sculptures, cast from people from all walks of life, that were lowered into the ocean. I believe they are made out of material that coral will grow on. Part of the project is to see the ongoing transformation as a reef forms around and on the sculptures. I have never been to Mexico, so maybe this could form into a trip where I also go to Sierra Chincua where the monarchs nest.

Not only is Silent Evolution, a beautiful artistic statement, it is also a part of the ongoing tradition of artist’s creating green works. Their is a push today to be eco-friendly and have a low impact on our planet. Eco tourism is a growing industry and will continue to boom as people continue to decide to travel in an earth friendly fashion.

We have a great potential to grow technologically in a green fashion. We have already expanded in so many ways. Solar panels, wind turbines, and hydrogen powered cars are just the start.

Whether or not you are an engineer or scientist, or an everyday person like you or me, we can all contribute to conserving our resources. This artist proves that with some ingenuity and creativity, anyone can help reduce the footprints we leave here. It doesn’t have to be as extravagant as what this artist created. Simply take the bus tomorrow, recycle, or turn off the faucet when you brush  your teeth. It’s as easy as that.

Here is the website for the artist:

http://www.underwatersculpture.com/pages/gallery/evolucion-silenciosa.html

I believe Jason has placed works other places around the globe. I am not entirely positive, but if so some of these photos might not be from the Mexico installation.

15. The archipelago of Lofoten in Norway

Lofoten is north of the arctic circle, and the northernmost place in the world where the average temperature year round is above zero. Far enough north, Lofoten experiences the midnight sun from May 26- July 27. This means that the sun is above the horizon 24 hours a day. This also means that there is no sunlight from December 9 to January 4.

Lofoten looks absolutely exquisite and I would love to experience this arctic circle anomaly.

So that is all for today! But before I go I would like to tell you about an awesome site where you can see the price of plane tickets for destinations around the world. Here is the link:

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2jSPDJ/www.kayak.com/explore%3Fairport%3DYYC

Cheers!

Jason deCaires Taylor

It is a striking vision to see a crowd of people standing on the bottom of the ocean.

I like that the viewer can experience the visual impact on many levels. You can gaze at the installation from a glass-bottom boat or snorkel down for a closer view, depending on how intimate you want to get. The photographs represent it beautifully, as well.

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It’s an inventive way to replace some of our important natural resources. Maybe the beauty of his work can influence others to do the same.

- Agent Smith, The Matrix

The Earth is changing at a phenomenal rate.  Sometimes when I think about it, it’s really quite scary.  Will I be around when water is as valuable a resource as cash is today?  What would that world be like and how would I fit into it?  Nothing would be the same.   Commerce would be entirely different and everything that we value today would fall to the wayside.  I don’t want to live in a world without comforts and animals and, well, an ecosystem.

While I understand the complexities of making drastic changes to the ways that we are accustomed to living our lives and the inconvenience and expense it would take to make Earh-saving changes, it will be imperative to do so if we want our planet to survive.  Call it Global Warming, overpopulation, or Whatever terms you prefer.  But it’s happening.  The unfortunate part is how little we, as individuals, can do to make a substantial difference.

Jason Decaires Taylor, however, has found a way to impact the environment in ways that may seem small but in the end will have a positive, lasting impact.

Not only has he found a way to make the Earth a better place, he has done so through art.  For time eternal, his work will not only be functional but beautiful.

Why aren’t there more efforts like this everywhere?

News – Cancun Underwater Museum Opens.

wearing stewart brown dotty drape tee, urban’s bdg yellow corduroy skirt, vintage tan blazer, brown urban outfitters belt, green spotted scarf made by my swedish grandma, target brown tights, mixx velvet green pumps from modcloth, private gallery faux fur crossbody bag, and indian headpiece from italian open air market.

dance, dance, jig jig. but, belly dancing is going to take a turn in a different direction. just saying, it needs to happen. in other news, i’ve been driving down back roads with the warhol, searching for open fields and dead grass, with mumford & sons blaring to the beat of the mud flying off my tires. the clorange show at rocketown was an experience, if nothing else. apparently a whole ten minutes of my moans and gypsy screams is too much for 13-year-old ears. even if the thundering booms of the instruments weren’t at full levels. regardless, it’s another new week which means new clorange songs, new bandits ideas, entirely too many projects in school, and an exhausted throat from coughing my brains out. i’ll be back again soon. but first, i really want to play on a swing set and go roller-skating.
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breathe peace.