If I could talk to a coral reef, I would ask them to tell me how it is to live on the sea bed, in a parallel world but on this same Earth. I wonder about the adaptive superpowers of all the creatures that live there, and their voices too. I wonder if they know we are here roaming the dry soil and changing the Earth system at large. I wonder, if they can hear the sounds of our oil rigs and our motorboats, and if they enjoy the chatter of airplanes passing by the sky. I wonder if they know about deep sea mining and if, as trees in a forest, they also feel the death of neighbor reefs to blast fishing and trawling. I wonder if they can hear the silence emanating off their bleached bodies and I can’t fail to wonder if they might speak to us as well. I can’t imagine how it must feel to be cooked alive, in an ocean of warming, acidifying waters; but if I could, I would ask them to tell us their story, through the embodied knowledge that they are, as one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on Earth.
Voice of Coral is the most recent chapter of an ongoing research project connected to the postnatural ecologies of coral reefs, and the sophisticated technologies being implemented at oceanic restoration sites, in an effort to accelerate the coral’s adaptation to the changing climate. The project looks closely at the technique of acoustic enrichment, through a series of sculptural sound-based works that invite the viewer to experience the language of coral creatures and the fading voice of a soundscape predicted to disappear within the next century. As part of the project, for every time that the work is exhibited, the hosting venue has to donate a portion of the exhibition budget to the Reef Renewal USA to help fund coral restoration and research.
Voice of Coral was curated by Regine Basha.
This work was made possible with the generous support of GAR and the collaboration of scientists Tim Lamont-Gordon, and NOAA’s scientist Marissa Nuttall and George Schmahl from the Flower Garden Banks Marine Sanctuary.
Read Future Reefs, written by Gregory Ruppe and Regine Basha for the presentation of the project at Powerstation Dallas.
Read Glasstire’s review of Voice of Coral, written by Carris Adams.
Read Patron’s Magazine Reef Futures review by Brandon Kennedy’s. Page 74
Voice of Coral has been presented in two iterations: at the GAR Gallery of the Galveston Artist Residency, and at the Picnic Curatorial Projects space of The Powerstation Dallas, under the curatorial guidance of Gregory Ruppe. Future presentations will continue their contributions and provide registration of its donations to the Reef Renewal Foundation USA.
