Maria francisca sanchez blanco. underwater sculptures. MURCIA SCHOOL OF ARTS, SCULPTURE

Editor's Notes

1. Shall we start? Good morning; I`m happy to be here. I´d like to start by introducing myself : My name´s Maria and I am a student at the Murcia School of Arts where I am doing Artistic Sculpture and I would like to talk to you today about someof my findings in a study I did on ¨Sculptures in water¨. I have chosen to speak about this because it has been a very important kind of art in the last few years. My purpose in doing this presentation is to give you a solid background on this subject so that in the future you´ll be able to use this information on your own projects. I´ll speak for about ten minutes, so I´d ask you to save your questions for the end , please.
2. I´ve divided my topic into three parts. In the first part I give a definition of water sculpture and deal with different aspects such as materials used or objectives. In the second part I show some important examples of Jason deCaires Taylor`s works. In the last part I explain briefly what his new projects are.
3. Have you ever heard of MUSA , in Cancun or the first public water park located in the park Molinere Bay, in Antillas? They are very famous worldwide because they represent a new way to make sculpture connected to the nature. These have been made by Jason deCaires Taylor, an English sculptor born in 1974 specialized in the creation of contemporary underwater sculptures which over time develop into artificial coral reefs.
4. Now, let us look at the first aspect , which is the concept of Sculptures in water: These are contemporary sculptures placed under water that become artificial reefs and coral reefs and allow growth and development of marine life.
5. They arose in the 70s thanks to the sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor. His early works include VICISSITUDES, REEF GRACE , THE LOST CORRESPONDENT and UNSTILL LIFE : they are all in the first water public sculpture park , in Molinere Bay, Isla Granada in Netherland. It consists of 65 sculptures on the seabed which were damaged by storms losing some of its natural coral.
6. To create sculptures , he used a mixture of marine grade cement, silica and micro-concrete to produce a neutral ph, which is reinforced with fiberglass rods. It may also contain glass ceramic and 95% of inert materials. Now, that we´ve seen different materials, let us examine the goal of these sculptures:
7. The objective is explaining that human intervention and interaction with nature can be positive and sustainable. As they are located under water, these sculptures , which generally represent human figures, have an altered appearance because the three-dimensional motion is improved in the water , so objects appear closer to a larger 25% and from many points of view. You can prove that if using a glass with water you introduce an object into the water, the object seems different . That´s all I would like to say about the concept and some basic considerations as materials or purpose.
8. And now let us turn to see some important examples around the world. I´d like to start with the creation of the world´s biggest sculpture museum in water. It´s called MUSA and it´s located off the coast of Cancun and the west coast of Isla Mujeres. It occupies 420 m of the seabed. The marine park is divided into two galleries called Salon Manchones and Salon Nizuc. It includes works such as Man on Fire , Gardener, Dream collector and Silent Evolution. As you can see, they represent human figures in different situations. They all were made in the years 2009- 2010 and deal with historical Maya narrative. The museum aims to demonstrate the interaction between art and environmental science forms as a complex structure for marine life.
9. In order to understand Taylor’s sculptures, let’s analyse some of his most relevant pieces: In the 1st photo we have ´The Silent Evolution´: Here we find a a man , made life-size cement and placed on a bed of sand. In the 2nd photo we can see ´Man on Fire´: This photo shows us a big head in stone. The third important sculpture is the Gardener of hope which depicts a young girl lying on garden patio steps, cultivating a variety of plant pots.
10. And now let us turn to the last part of the presentation, Taylor’s new projects. It is interesting to talk about his new projects because this kind of sculpture could be a good solution for under sea nature in the future. Taylor is currently working on new projects for the Canary islands in Spain and in many other parts of the world. In this presentation we have learnt some aspects about underwater sculptures: definition, materials, objectives and have also seen the evolution of Taylor as an artist. To conclude, I consider that ,in general all his work evokes unity with nature and continuity because we all are part of it. Thanks for your attention and I’m ready to answer your questions.