1. Immediate Response
When I first saw Jason DeCaires’ work I was blown away. I’ve always been really excited by art that features the interface of human infrastructure and nature. I love the way that nature always finds a way to reclaim human creations for its own. This is apparent in much of deCaires’ work, especially in the pieces featured in Museo Subacuático de Arte. To be honest, I’m not sure if the figures are meant to be interpreted as one giant sculpture, or as a gallery of many different pieces, but from both perspectives, the piece is very interesting. I have included 2 different pictures below, one of the ‘gallery’ as a whole, and one of a specific human form covered in sea life that is particularly interesting to me for discussion.
2. Objective Description
This underwater gallery features many human forms presumably made out of concrete or some other similar material. They come in all different shapes and sizes wear different types of clothing and bear different facial expressions. The figures are scattered in a way that doesn’t necessarily make sense, similar to a random congregation of people in a public space like a city park. You can tell that the sculptures have been submerged in the ocean for a while because they are weathered by the tides. Some figures are covered in different colored algae, coral, and other sea life such are barnacles and urchins.
3. Technical Decisions
I would also like to discuss the craftsmanship that went into the creation of these figures. From the looks of it, it doesn’t seem like any of the figures are repeated. This means that there are at least 30-40 unique figures. They are also very detailed. Even after being weathered by the ocean you can still clearly pick up distinct emotions that each of the figures is feeling based on their facial expressions. Along with this, you can clearly see wrinkles in the clothing that the figures are wearing which is very impressive to me that the artist repeated this many different times with all different figures.
4. The Work in the World
I didn’t do much research into the background or purpose of this piece of artwork. However, in my mind, I like to think that maybe somehow this sculpture represents how people react and band together when bad news breaks on a big event. Most of the people have a look of grief or shock on their faces but besides this shared emotion, not much else seems to connect these people. The first historical event that comes to my mind that this piece could be a response to is 9/11 however since this sculpture was created by a British man and featured in Mexico in 2009 it seems unlikely.
5. The Story it Tells
After looking future into the purpose of Jason deCaires’ work I found that much of his art is in response to mankind’s negative effects on the planet. In this piece specifically, he sought to highlight the importance of the ocean as a source of sustenance and economic welfare globally. I found that he makes his sculptures out of pH-neutral, environmentally-sensitive materials to instigate natural growth. This means that the grief on the figures’ faces that I mentioned above is most likely in response to the ecological harm that humans have caused to the oceans and reef ecosystems. I hope that others interpret this art as a form of environmental protest and seek to make changes in their own lives to impact the planet in a positive way as a response to it.
