While researching for my dissertation I came across a number of artists that use art as a strategy to reconnect and create a benefit to the natural environment. One that stood out for both its art and immense documented benefit the work has caused is Jason DeCaires Taylor, a British sculpture artist who created the worlds first under water sculpture park. The sculpture park is made up of over 300 sculptures including a 30 metre long 100 tonne wall and then 12 separate installations. The sculptures are made using a pH neutral cement that not only is non toxic to the water but also allows sea polyps and coral to attach themselves to the sculptures creating essentially a large artificial reef. The sculptures differ in subject from people, to cars, to satirical takes capitalism and the ways we continue to deplete of the worlds natural resource. The work seems to be a connecter between man and the sea, with so many of us seeing the ocean as a vast unending and unchanging mass. Decaires Taylor showcases the oceans vunerability and shows the ways in which it can be helped, while at the same time creating an art piece that still maintains a somewhat traditional contemporary aesthetic. The work has small openings within the sculptures to allow octopuses, crustaceans and sea urchins to inhibit. The result of the work is a local increase in bio mass by 200%, a booming local economy from tourist attraction and an environment that is specifically designed to encourage and support the underwater local bio diversity. It is an incredible collaboration between nature and man and showcases not only the immense beauty nature provides but the ways that artists can utilise their practise to benefit the world. The pieces are a true inspiration to the journey in my own work where I aspire to connect or reconnect with the natural world and create a sustainable practice that aims to benefit and not harm my natural world. Something very exciting that came out of this research is that I now have the chance to go and visit this work in person next autumn and I can’t wait.
