Thursday, October 19, 2017
An 80-Foot Steel Kraken Will Create an Artificial Coral Reef Near the British Virgin Islands
Colossal: “It’s envisioned that within just a short space of time the ship and artwork will attract a myriad of sea creatures,” said Clive Petrovic who consults on the environmental impact of the BVI Art Reef. “Everything from corals to sea sponges, sharks and turtles will live on, in, and around the wreck. The ship will become valuable for future research by scientists and local students alike.”
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8 comments:
This looks like a really amazing installation- and I appreciate the idea of creating a positive environmental impact. I'm curious to know more about how sinking ships does create a positive environmental impact, only because I've never really understood how this addresses the issues pollution and the acidity of the ocean. If solving the problems regarding our dying coral reefs is as easy as providing them with some infrastructure, why aren't we doing this more? I thought the issue was more related to the bleaching of the reefs, not that the reefs needed more places to exist. While I'm sure that ocean life would definitely gravitate to a complex structure like this, I can't really wrap my head around how beneficial this actually is. I will say I appreciate the creativity in attaching the steel kraken to the ship, and it would be an incredible scuba diving location. I wonder if the size of the creature and the fact that it has realistic looking eyes will affect how attracted certain ocean life would be to the structure.
Using art as a vessel, almost literally, for ecological change is amazing. Humans, as a species, have destroyed out oceans at an astronomical rate. We are changing the ph and other components in out oceans so fast that they can’t regrow fast enough to replenish what we are destroying. We are running ecosystems and natural wonders like the coral reefs. In a social context art is made to start a discussion and often heal a hurting world. Art is used as a unifying factor for a group of people. And in this environmental context, art is doing the same thing. It is being used to heal and unify a place that is being destroyed. The choice to sink and octopus is also very cool. Now people will get to go diving in this underwater oasis that will grow as a result of this instillation, and experience this beautiful beast, where in mythology an octopus aka The Krackin is known for destruction and a monster of the deep that is to be feared by people and sailors alike.
This article makes my heart happy. I am glad that artists can partner with scientists and environmentalists to be able to make a difference with the art they make. Keeping the Earth alive and healthy is an issue growing bigger buy the day and it it feels good to know that even though I decided to study art rather than science, I could still help the environment with my art.
I would love to know how the designers and construction team accounted for the way the boat would sink and how that would affect the sculpture. A regular sculpture does not have to account for water pressure and the forces that must have been applied to the Kodak Queen and her kraken as they sank. It must have been an interesting math problem to solve. Also, I would love to know how they sank the boat, and if having that controlled sinking helped with figure how to make certain connections in this sculpture. I will definitely look out for when the full documentary is released.
I think it is pretty amazing that so much collaboration has gone on to create this form to grow transplanted coral on. Giving this species a place to foster and grow is a step to helping the dying coral population. But, the real problem with coral reefs dying is caused by the water being to warm for them to properly live and then the coral bleach from the death of the algae they live with and then slowly starve. This permanent installation will with no doubt help the environment, but it is by no means the ultimate solution. Humans still need to make strides in understanding how much of an impact we make on the natural world and need to continue to regulate our actions to stop hurting the Earth as much as we do.
This is such an amazing project I can't believe I hadn't heard of it before now! Functional, world-bettering art is so rare and so beautiful when it is actually successful, and this piece was so successful on so many fronts! The fact that the piece serves so many purposes simultaneously is also spectacular as it protects history, an ecosystem, and a place for scientific research to take place. Also the effort of making the sculpture actually represent a creature it will be helping to protect (rather than a random piece of modern art) is especially poetic. This is what environmental art was meant to do: use art as a vehicle to construct a better world. It gives us all hope that the better parts of humanity that can create something to help batter back its destructive tendencies. It's not a cure-all but it's a spurring, inspirational spark for further change. I'm also so happy they made a documentary of it I can't wait to see it!
When I am at my most hopeful, I feel we might be at a positive tipping point, a point at which the proof of our impact on the environment will shake us so deeply from our complacency that we’ll be forced into a paradigm shift.
As Brennan mentions, I’m not sure if the Kraken is an example of significant problem solving since my understanding was that the major threat to corals was temperature and PH change. What’s the point of creating more reef if that reef is going into toxic water? Nevertheless, I hope it’s a sign of more things of its kind to come. I hope that that paradigm shift we see includes a closer relationship between technology, environmental solutions, and art. Our environment, the very first inspiration for human art, is as much aesthetic as it is our life support. I would like to see a future where our increased appreciation for the environment isn’t strictly utilitarian, but is celebrated and adorned.
I have very conflicting emotions about what this article explains. I love the idea that a group of people brought their skills to a table and built something beautiful with something that was about to be destroyed. I love that they are even putting this beautiful creation to a wonderful use: to rehabilitate and create a new coral reef. Above all, I love that there is going to be an education program going on in conjunction with this. It allows us to learn more, study further, and all while helping the ocean. The other side of me is very worried because yet another steel structure is stuck on the bottom of the ocean, rusting. Not only was it just sitting in the ocean before but they built a beautiful creature on top of it too that is also going to rust and that just can’t be good for life or the ocean in general. I love this idea but at the same time I am very worried by it. Hopefully they will also study the negative effects of such objects in the ocean and maybe learn to create something just as beautiful but out of safer materials for the ocean and ocean life. The video on top of it all was stunning and emotional as well and I can’t wait for the documentary.
This is a beautiful example of how art an innovation can create real change. Coral reefs and underwater ecosystems around the world have been taking immense blows due to climate change and global warming. I believe it was just last year that the Great Barrier Reef was beginning to die, which will severely affect the surrounding waters. This sculpture appears to be meticulously thought through, from the aesthetic elements to the technical elements. Aside from being astoundingly big and absolutely stunning, the author talks about the porous steel material that was used that will enable coral to grow easily and water to circulate through it. It is also really beautiful that the team was able to repurpose the war boat and give it new life! The boat has been transformed from something used in a time of destruction to something of growth and rebirth. I hope to see more of these feats of creativity and engineering to help ease our Earth from it’s deterioration in the future.
After spending several years studying marine science, seeing projects like this always give me a sense of hope. We spend so much time talking about the irreparable state of our world, instead of putting that time towards finding creative solutions that, not only repair our environment, but bring communities together to collaborate positively. I wonder about the future of an installation such as this. What will the future of the structure be? Does it need to be maintained? What will happen to the structure if the plan doesn’t work? All of those questions aside, I am also absolutely in awe of the beauty of the structure itself. You can see the care with which this was crafted, and the positive energy that the creators pushed into it. The time lapse video of the fabrication and sinking of the structure was really interesting, and I will absolutely be looking for the documentary to be published.
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