British artist Jason deCaires Taylor completed "Silent Evolution" -- a collection of hyper-realistic life-size sculptures of people from around the world -- last fall.As it was nearing completion he produced a video, which was featured on this website, showing many of his 400-plus sculptures resting on the ocean floor, the faces of each expressing vividly the moods and emotions of the artist's subjects.
DeCaires Taylor now has released a new video showing the transformation of his concrete sculptures into perhaps the world's most unusual artificial reef. Fish have found sanctuary among the sculptures, many of which have grown masks of coral and algae that attract and support smaller life forms.
(See the video below. The first 3:35 shows the more captivating transformation; the rest is behind-the-scenes footage.)
The ambitious project entailed years of work and resembles a cross section of human society spread across 420 acres of ocean floor within Cancun's National Marine Park. It's supported by the park and the Cancun Nautical Association.
The sprawling museum was designed to attract scuba divers, thus relieving diving pressure from the area's more fragile natural reefs.
Also, by creating sculptures of people from various walks of life -- from an 85-year-old nun to a 3-year-old boy, to a doctor, fisherman and student, etc. -- the artist has states that environmental issues affect everyone.
DeCaires Taylor explains on his website: "The installation portrays a gathering of people, illustrating how we are all facing serious questions concerning our environment and our impact on the natural world. The work is optimistic and forward looking, expressing hope that there will be unity in dealing with this problem."
Now that colorful reef fish and other sea creatures have found a home amid the sculptures, and that the project has become popular among scuba divers and snorkelers, the evolution of the artist's finished product remains both silent, and wonderfully evident.
-- Image is courtesy of Jason deCaires Taylor and protected by écopyright laws
6 Comments
1-6 of 6
Posted by lisa black April 25, 2011 12:25pm PDTReply | Report Abuse
looks kinda creepy to me
Reply by jsparco September 21, 2011 05:57am PDTReport Abuse
Beautiful art and it's a fantastic gift to wildlife creatures in the ocean. These should go into museums! It wouldn't fit in my favorite, the DC Museum but in a more modern art museum.
Posted by dedduk April 25, 2011 01:16pm PDTReply | Report Abuse
All would be fine and dandy until you are diving one day and they start to move
Posted by deborah narvaiz April 25, 2011 03:07pm PDTReply | Report Abuse
I can already hear the mental wheels spinning for the archeologists of the future trying to figure out what this means and what it represented to those who created it.
Reply by robarino April 25, 2011 03:54pm PDTReport Abuse
That's what I was thinking. If some cataclysm were to happen to today's society what would a future society think of the stuff we left behind? ...the faces of Mount Rushmore, the marble structures in Washington DC, the ugly @ss piece of "modern art" that sits in front of many office buildings.
Which begs to question the meaning and purpose of many of the ancient structures we study today. For all anyone knows, Stonehedge could have been someone's ancient art project and cave paintings could have just been kids graffiti.
Posted by anne marie laney April 25, 2011 04:05pm PDTReply | Report Abuse
wow six months did a lot! nature is amazing!
Posted by xorlaryn April 25, 2011 05:57pm PDTReply | Report Abuse
Here lies the city of Simmu, Simmurad
Posted by gerardo martinez casas April 25, 2011 08:41pm PDTReply | Report Abuse
Just wait for the next hurricane to hit the area and instead of "ashes 2 ashes" it will be "sand to sand", so NatGeo hurry and make a nice documentary before the whole thing is swallow into Cacun´s lagoons and sandbars.
Reply by gerardo martinez casas April 25, 2011 08:42pm PDTReport Abuse
Kool dude.
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