Jason deCaires Taylor …. “Amazingly Incredible Underwater Sculptor …. “!!

~~January 31, 2014~~

~~Biography~~

Born in 1974 to an English father and Guyanese mother, Taylor grew up in Europe and Asia, where he spent much of his early childhood exploring the coral reefs of Malaysia. Educated in the South East of England, Taylor graduated from the London Institute of Arts in 1998 with a BA Honors in Sculpture and went on to become a fully qualified diving instructor and underwater naturalist. With over 18 years diving experience under his belt, Taylor is also an award winning underwater photographer, famous for his dramatic images, which capture the metamorphosing effects of the ocean on his evolving sculptures.

~~Slavery~~

In 2006, Taylor founded and created the world’s first underwater sculpture park. Situated off the coast of Grenada in the West Indies it is now listed as one of the Top 25 Wonders of the World by National Geographic. His latest creation is MUSA (Museo Subacuatico de Arte), a monumental museum with a collection of over 500 of his sculptural works, submerged off the coast of Cancun, Mexico; described by Forbes as one of the world’s most unique travel destinations. Both these ambitious, permanent public works have a practical, functional aspect, facilitating positive interactions between people and fragile underwater habitats while at the same relieving pressure on natural resources.

~~Inertia~~

Taylor’s art is like no other, a paradox of creation, constructed to be assimilated by the ocean and transformed from inert objects into living breathing coral reefs, portraying human intervention as both positive and life-encouraging. Numerous publications and documentaries have featured his extraordinary work, including the BBC, CNN, USA Today, the Guardian, Vogue, New Scientist and the Discovery Channel, yet nothing can quite do justice to the ephemeral nature of his art; for each actual visit to his sites is both unique and subject to the dynamic, fluctuating environment of the ocean.

~~Man on Fire~~ 

His pioneering public art projects are not only examples of successful marine conservation, but inspirational works of art that seek to encourage environmental awareness, instigate social change and lead us to appreciate the breathtaking natural beauty of the underwater world.

Taylor’s studio is currently based in Lanzarote part of the Canary Islands.

~~Forever is composed of Nows~~ 

~~Environment : Artificial Reefs~~

Oceans teem with microscopic organisms that are constantly drifting down towards the sea bed, attaching to and colonising on the way any hard secure surface, such as rock outcrops, and thereby creating the basis of a natural reef. Coral reefs attract an array of marine life (such as colourful fish, turtles, sea urchins, sponges, and sharks) and also provide enclosed spaces for sea creatures to breed or take refuge.

Only about 10 – 15% of the sea bed has a solid enough substratum to allow reefs to form naturally. In order to increase the number of reefs in these areas artificial reefs have recently been created from materials that are durable, secure and environmentally sensitive. These reefs appear to have been successful in that they have attracted coral growth which, in turn, can support an entire marine ecosystem.

One of the greatest benefits of artificial reefs is that they have lifted the pressure off natural reefs which, over the past few decades, have been over-fished and over-visited. By diverting attention to artificial reefs, natural reefs have now been given a greater chance to repair and to regenerate.

~~Car~~

CORAL

Caribbean coral reefs are warm, clear shallow ocean habitats, comprised of only 8% surface area of the world’s coral reefs and are greatly dominated by Fringing reef’s. A coral reef habitat provides shelter for many aquatic animals, such as sponges, fish, jellyfish, sea anemones, crustaceans, turtles, sea snakes, eels, snails and mollusks.

Over the last 30 years Caribbean coral reefs have suffered a decline in the overall coral reef health and the productivity of reef fishes due to deteriorating water quality and the elevation in water temperature from a variety of man-made causes including: pollution, dynamite fishing, tourism, hurricane’s and reef overuse leading to global warming, ocean acidification and large areas of hard coral being overgrown by algae.

The study of coral reef decline is a rapid identifier for climate change because it is affected from such a diversity of sources.

~~Silent Evolution~~

Coral is an animal and each individual coral consists of polyps. A polyp has a simple cup shaped body with a single central opening acting as a mouth and anus. This anatomy draws in calcium carbonate (limestone) from seawater and uses it to form a hard coating for their bodies and to attach to firm substrates such as rock.

For a colony to flourish they require several critical environmental factors, water temperature, salinity, clarity water movement for food and oxygen supply, and a firm base for attachment. Sufficient sunlight is a requirement for photosynthesis to occur and therefore most occurs in the uppermost 200ft layer of the ocean. Coral growth is slow, on average less than an inch each year for the majority of species.

Under times of stress E.g. when the temperature is abnormally high or during a hurricane, a process called ” coral bleaching” occurs. This is when the symbiotic algae, zooanthellae is expelled from the polyps changing the corals colour to white. Ultimately the diversity of the reef is affected.

Coral is classified into the following groups:

• Hydrocorals (including fire coral)
• Stony or Hard corals
• Soft corals (including Gorgonians)
• Black corals (generally deep dwellers)

“Snorkelling Guide to Marine Life” by Paul Humann, Ned DeLoach

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral

Coral Magazine, Nov/Dec 2010 issue, vol 7, no 6, James M Laurence

www.projectnoah.org/missions/6529308

~~Sugar Skulls – Mexico~~ 

View sculptures: http://www.underwatersculpture.com/sculptures/

Jason DeCaires Taylor

~Official Website~

http://www.underwatersculpture.com/

Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jason-deCaires-Taylor/150479558321853

Jason de Caires Taylor Underwater Sculptures   

Amazing Underwater World by Jason Decaires Taylor

Published on May 30, 2013

Jason deCaires Taylor (born 12 August 1974) is an English sculptor specialising in the creation of contemporary underwater sculptures which over time develop into artificial coral reefs. Taylor integrates his skills as a conservationist, underwater photographer and scuba diving instructor to produce unique installations that encourage the habitation and growth of corals and marine life.

His early work includes Vicissitudes, Grace Reef, The Lost Correspondent and The Unstill Life. All are located in the world´s first public underwater sculpture park in Molinere Bay, Grenada, West Indies, commissioned in 2006.

More recently his most ambitious project to date is the creation of the world’s largest underwater sculpture museum, MUSA, situated off the coast of Cancun and the western coast of Isla Mujeres. Works in the museum include Hombre en llamas (Man on Fire ), La Jardinera de la Esperanza (The Gardener of Hope), El Collecionista de los Sueños (The Dream Collector) and La Evolución Silenciosa (The Silent Evolution). The majority of Taylor’s work takes the form of human figurative sculptures housed beneath the ocean.

Art by Jason Decaires Taylor

http://www.underwatersculpture.com/

~~Reclamation~~

We ALL are connected through ART!!