A Get Together With Chris Ritson
An Outline of the Coral Sculpture Proposal
click for full proposal
Part I – Growth
Coral fragments will be systematically and symmetrically grafted onto a human skeleton. Special care will be taken to place fragments onto the skeleton’s “joints,” so that as the coral grows it will actually fuse the pieces of the skeleton together.
A rough example of Part I. Chris used crystals to fuse together bird skeletons.
Part II – Living Display/Documentation
A variety of marine animals, which may include schools of fish, crustaceans, cephalopods, mollusks, moray eels, and sharks, will be placed into the tank with the fully fused “coral skeleton,” creating a small coral reef and a self-contained ecosystem. The living sculpture will be displayed to the public and will, hopefully, create a forum for discussion to educate the public about coral reefs and the danger they are in. The installation will be documented through large, color photographs and a 24-hour time lapsed video.
Chris Ritson - Dolphin loop from Chris Ritson on Vimeo.
A very rough example of Part II. The coral sculpture will teem with life and explode with color. Chris says, “The video pieces are really temporal because they’re designed to be biodegradable. There’s a whole month or two before and after in which they’re grown and decline.”
Part III – Death and Dispersion
The skeleton will be removed from water, and the corals fusing it together will die. After being bleached, dried, and preserved, the skeleton will be displayed alongside the photographs and video taken during part II. “The display of the stark white final object juxtaposed with documentation of its former living glory will serve as a potent image of the fate of our reef ecosystems (and ultimately our own) unless drastic changes are made soon to preserve them. The final aragonite sculpture will be the first of its kind, and important historically as it shows a community working with nature to produce an art commodity as opposed to against it in terms of manufacturing.”
Final Intent:
Believe it or not, this is when the proposal really gets interesting, because the first three parts are only the business model. In the final part, the reef sculptures go into production on a scale as large as the seven seas.
The ultimate goal of the proposal and, for Chris, the ultimate test of its success, is to produce and display coral sculptures in the open ocean. “I would love to have sculpture gardens,” Chris says. “They would serve as preserves and regulate small patches of reef. Even a quarter mile strip of sanctuary where fishing and heavy pollutants are banned makes a huge difference. The increase of wildlife it produces is incredible.”
Since the underwater sculpture gardens will be set up in the waters of developing, tropical communities, they will benefit not only the surrounding environment, but the nearby people as well. Locals will maintain the gardens and will profit from displaying them. Ecotourism and art will combine to allow humans and nature to enter into a new, exciting, and mutually beneficial relationship.
