There's something about the idea of an undersea world that has always entranced me. I love that sequence in C.S. Lewis's Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Narnia, Book 3, before the ridiculous, simple minded reordering of the books by Harper Collins) where Lucy looks over the side of her ship and sees a mer community, including a little mer-girl, and they silently become friends:"Suddenly she saw a little Sea Girl of about her own age in the middle of them - a quiet lonely looking girl with a sort of crook in her hand. Lucy felt sure that this girl must be a shepherdess - or perhaps a fish-herdess - and that the shoal was really a flock at pasture. Both the fishes and the girl were quite close to the surface. And just as the girl, gliding in the shallow water, and Lucy leaning over the bulwark, came opposite to one another, the girl looked up and stared straight into Lucy's face. Neither could speak to the other and in a moment the Sea Girl dropped astern. But Lucy will never forget her face. It did not look frightened or angry like those of the other Sea People. Lucy had liked that girl and she felt certain the girl had liked her. In that one moment they had somehow become friends. There does not seem to be much chance of their meeting again in that world or any other. But if ever they do they will rush together with their hands held out."Outer space seems empty and cold. But the deepest recesses of the ocean are mysterious, full of life and still greatly unknown to us.
Not in deep ocean, but in the shallow, clear waters off of Isla Mujeres in Mexico, British artist Jason DeCaires Taylor, created this eerie and lovely reef sculpture. The music included with the clip was a bit much for me, so I turned off the sound, but the sculpture itself is pretty extraordinary. On his website are pictures and videos of the evolution of marine life on and around his work.
It's all really worth taking a look at. My wish that divers just inadvertently come across it is all nonsense, as I know the underwater tourist hoards of Cancun will be lining up to take a look. I can dream though, right?
(Photo: © Jason DeCaires Taylor)
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3 comments:
God, that music really is terrible. But a very interesting project!
Did you read the Love & Rockets series, specifically the Palomar stories by Gilbert Hernandez? It actually ends with the creation of a piece very much like this.
I've read tons of Love & Rockets, but my reading was a little on the patchy side. I really want to get the gigantic Palomar collection. How cool.
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