ARTIST & OCEAN COLLABORATE IN NEW UNDERSEA MUSEUM

MUSEO ATLANTICO LANZAROTE

Europe, the continent that boasts the biggest concentration of stellar museums, now has an incredible new addition. But you have to look deeply to see it.

The new Museo Atlántico lies 15 meters beneath the Atlantic Ocean’s surface, just off the south coast of Lanzarote, in the Bahía de Las Coloradas, in Spain.

Created by British artist, diver and naturalist Jason deCaires Taylor, Museo Atlántico was designed to generate a large scale artificial reef. He is one of a new generation of artists that has emerged working with environmentalism as a major focus and mission.

The museum was conceived as a place to promote education and preserve and protect the marine and natural environment.

Over 300 deCaires Taylor sculptures sit in the sand, submerged in the sea. They were created raise awareness about ocean conservation and climate change as well as to draw attention to issues such as human forced migrations.

The museum spans 2,500-square meters. It was officially inaugurated on January 10th 2017 by the President of Lanzarote, Pedro San Gines, after it’s 3-year build was completed. The museum holds a unique status as a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve.

The sculptures are entirely made of pH neutral cement, which help the marine biomass to flourish. Endemic species are already returning.

The first works, installed in February 2016, have already seen an increase of over 200% in marine biomass! Rare angel sharks, along with schools of barracudas and sardines frequently swim among the sculptures. Octopus, marine sponges and butterfly rays also come to check out the new scene.

“Each artwork is brought alive through its union with the biological marine life that attaches to it and thrives,” Taylor explains. “There is a distinct interactivity between the living organisms and the sculptures.”

The placement of the sculptures is selected to maximize positive environmental impact -- to promote greatest diversity and protect existing reef.

Even the timing of installation is significant to ensure they are in place before the larval coral spawning occurs but not too early to ensure the coral has a chance to colonize before other sea life takes over.

“Over time, the sculptures change colors and become covered with coral and biological growth, eventually becoming home to new organisms as artificial reefs,” deCaires Taylor explains.

Made up of 10 groupings of sculptures, your journey through is epic. The installations include a 100-ton 30-meter long wall and gateway, an underwater botanical sculpture garden and a collection of over 200 life size-human figures in a human gyre - vast circular system formation echoing ocean currents.

Rubicon includes a group of 35 human figures walking towards a wall.

The Raft of Lampedusa references the current refugee crisis. As does Los Jolateros, a grouping of children in little brass boats.

One group of sculptures depict human/plant hybrids, such as the half-human half-cactus piece.

Other contemporary subjects include a couple taking a selfie, and a tech play entitled Portal, in which a sculpture looks at a mirror that reflects the surface of the ocean.

If you want to visit, several times per week, Dive College Lanzarote takes divers and snorkelers out to the site on a boat. If you’re a novice, the museum offers a try dive a pool session to learn a few dive skills, followed by a boat dive to Museo Atlántico with a private guide.

In addition to the Museum, check out the Grenada Pavilion at the 2017 Venice Biennale, where you can see deCaires Taylor’s photographs of his underwater creations covered in beautiful brightly coloured sea life, on display through November 27, 2017.

On a global level, Jason deCaires Taylor’s works reached an audience of over 1 billion people over the past 10 years, all of whom he hopes can take action and instigate social change to help save our beautiful oceans and the life they support.

Check out deCaires Taylor’s previous under-the-sea installations, including the Museo Subacuatico de Arte under the Caribbean Sea in Cancun, Mexico; the protected Underwater Sculpture Park in Molinière Bay, Grenada; and the 16-foot Ocean Atlas, the largest sunken sculpture ever created, commissioned by the Bahamas Reef Environmental Educational Foundation.

And check Jason deCaires Taylor’s TED Talk to see and learn more.

Read more about Ocean Glory in Indulge in Eco Luxury & Help Save Oceans Too, Teeny Weeny Bikini Makes Big Impact to Save Oceans, and 10 Most Beautiful Images, Ideas, & Quotes About Oceans.

And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact Daily Fix posts.

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IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: Courtesy of Jason deCaires Taylor. Museo Atlántico. Sculptures by Jason deCaires Taylor.
2. Image: Courtesy of Jason deCaires Taylor. Museo Atlántico. Sculptures by Jason deCaires Taylor.
3. Image: Courtesy of Jason deCaires Taylor. Museo Atlántico. Sculptures by Jason deCaires Taylor.
4. Image: Courtesy of Jason deCaires Taylor. Museo Atlántico. Sculptures by Jason deCaires Taylor.
5. Image: by Jason deCaires Taylor. “The Silent Evolution,” MUSA Collection, Cancun/Isla Mujeres, Mexico.
6. Image: Courtesy of Jason deCaires Taylor. Museo Atlántico. Sculptures by Jason deCaires Taylor.
7. Image: Courtesy of Jason deCaires Taylor. Museo Atlántico. Sculptures by Jason deCaires Taylor.
8. Image: Courtesy of Jason deCaires Taylor. Sculptures by Jason deCaires Taylor.
9. Image: Courtesy of Jason deCaires Taylor. Museo Atlántico. Sculptures by Jason deCaires Taylor.
10. Image: Courtesy of Jason deCaires Taylor. Museo Atlántico. Sculptures by Jason deCaires Taylor.
11. Image: Courtesy of Jason deCaires Taylor. Museo Atlántico. Sculptures by Jason deCaires Taylor.
12. Image: Courtesy of Jason deCaires Taylor. “Vicissitudes.” Grenada Venice at Venice Biennale 2017. Sculpture by Jason deCaires Taylor.
13. Image: Courtesy of Bahamas Reef Environment Educational Foundation. Underwater sculpture of a girl sitting, by artist Jason deCaires.
14. Image: Courtesy of National Marine Park of Punta Cancún. Coral growing on underwater sculptures of people, by artist Jason deCaires.
15. Image: Courtesy of Jason deCaires Taylor. Museo Atlántico. Sculptures by Jason deCaires Taylor.
16. Image: Courtesy of Jason deCaires Taylor. Museo Atlántico. Sculptures by Jason deCaires Taylor.
17. Image: by BN App - Download now!
18. Image: Courtesy of Jason deCaires Taylor. “Vicissitudes.” Grenada Venice at Venice Biennale 2017. Sculpture by Jason deCaires Taylor.