The artist's purpose Jason fromCaires Taylor is to save the oceans. His work and his life are dedicated entirely to the sea. Or better. To the life that exists under the sea.
His latest installation can be admired in the seabed of the Maldives. The Sculpture Coralarium was partially lowered into the largest coral lagoon in the Maldivian archipelago, off the coast of The Secret of Fury, in the Shaviyani atoll, north of Malé where the Fairmont resort is located.
It is a real semi-submerged museum, which includes a single eco-friendly work whose purpose is much greater.
Around the Coralarium, over time, in fact, an artificial coral reef will be formed which will guarantee the future life of the creatures that live in these seas and which, due to the bleaching of the coral, due to the rise in water temperature, risk disappearing forever.
DeCaires' work will become a cube covered in coral, illuminated by a soft light as evening falls, so as to attract fish and other marine creatures.
Guests of the resort, one of the most luxurious in the Maldives, will be able to do so snorkeling around the opera during the day and also at night, accompanied by expert marine biologists.
Remaining partly on the surface, the work of art will also be visible above the water and will change the panorama that we have today from the island.
The cube is made of saltwater-resistant stainless steel and concrete, weighs 20 tons and is six meters high. The submerged part is about 3 meters when the tide is low. It has large holes which are used to allow the sea current to pass through more easily, but also the fish so that they can colonize it more quickly.
Above and inside the cube there are 14 sculptures, some submerged, others out of the water. These figures are part human, part plant and part coral and have all the appearance of Maldivians and native plants of the Maldives.
Some of them, a little disturbing perhaps, represent children, with their heads just out of the water: the artist's idea is to raise the alarm against the effects of global warming and the rise in sea levels, which is particularly felt in the Maldives.
The upper part of the sculpture has an opening that allows you to swim in and a platform where you can stop and observe the fish, corals and the breathtaking panorama that surrounds it, with the atoll and the Indian Ocean. 200 fragments of real coral have been planted all around the opening which will soon give life to a coral forest.
Jason deCaires Taylor has already created numerous underwater works of art with the aim of creating new coral reefs. Among the most famous are the MUSA (Museo Subacuático de Arte) in Cancun, Mexico, the Atlantic Museum off the coast of Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands, and Ocean Atlas, the gigantic figure that supports the ocean on its shoulders in the Bahamas.
Source: @Jason deCaires Taylor
