JASON deCAIRES TAYLOR - Sculptor, Environmentalist, Creator of Underwater Museums

What if museums weren’t confined to buildings but could be part of the natural world? What if sculptures could not only celebrate our oceans, but also provide habitats for marine life?

Jason deCaires Taylor is a sculptor, environmentalist, and underwater photographer. His works are constructed using materials to instigate natural growth and the subsequent changes intended to explore the aesthetics of decay, rebirth, and metamorphosis. DeCaires Taylor's pioneering public art projects are not only examples of successful marine conservation but also works of art that seek to encourage environmental awareness and lead us to appreciate the breathtaking natural beauty of the underwater world.

"We actually have some new works which have scientific monitoring devices in them. They actually have little sensors in them that monitor temperature and salinity and other factors. And one of the main pieces there is this piece called The Ocean Siren. And it is a young indigenous woman who is standing on the coastline, and she's actually attached to a weather station connected via a satellite link to a weather station out on the Great Barrier Reef. And that feeds data back to her. And then there's a solar array that changes a series of LEDs on her skin. So she changes red and orange color when there are prolonged spikes in temperature that could indicate coral bleaching. And then when the water is cooler, she obviously comes back down to a cooler blue or green color.

From the beginning, it's always been one of my major concerns that I don't always like human intervention in natural landscapes. And it was something that I was really conscious of when I first started. So, first and foremost, I made attention to the fact that it needed to be made from materials that didn't pollute in any way, that were sustainable, and that would last for a very long time. It takes reefs hundreds of years to fully get established. So the materials had to live up to that. They also had to not be displaced by all the strong forces and energy that are prevalent underwater. And they also had to foster marine life. I also found out that, they were very good at actually controlling how tourists interact with our marine areas. So many of the projects are actually to draw visitors away from natural areas and to bring them to an area where there's a sandy substrate where their impact is lessened."

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