Jason deCaires Taylor: An underwater art museum, teeming with life
Jason deCaires Taylor's underwater installations offer views of another world, where the artistic efforts of man meet the vivifying power of nature. Full bio
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or was at all possible,
and a very steep learning curve,
called "The Lost Correspondent."
and a local dive center,
off the coast of Grenada,
underwater sculpture park.
and started by casting local fisherman.
in defense of the sea.
is not just for greenhouses.
rising 16 feet up to the surface
an underwater botanical garden,
in the Atlantic Ocean.
and designs that help encourage life;
provides a stable and permanent platform.
coral polyps to attach.
from natural reefs
there's areas for them to settle.
so that they aggregate fish
has an internal living habitat
such as lobsters and sea urchins.
under a hundred-foot crane,
down to the sea floor,
have taken up watercolor painting instead.
always blow my mind.
incredible exhibition space
changing by the hour,
the sculptures in a cloud of mystery,
of inquisitive visitors,
special touch to the site.
thing about what we do,
submerge the sculptures,
literally starts to evolve,
but nothing man-made
the bodies feeding at night.
a kind of purple paint.
in my life lives underwater.
glide silently overhead.
we've had to these works
to plug into something really primal,
translate across the world,
on my responsibility as an artist
in the middle of the ocean,
really important effect of my work.
and our oceans are in trouble.
are beginning to understand
and the destruction of nature,
about our oceans, too.
we've seen some phenomenal
of new habitats and living reef,
now divide half their time
for natural, overstressed areas.
in the Bahamas highlighted a leak
forced the local government
in coastal cleanups.
was instrumental
a marine-protected area.
now help fund park rangers
as a "Wonder of the World"
our oceans as sacred,
or the La Sagrada Família,
places and things,
to cherish them, to protect them
to assign that value;
understand that value.
by talking about sacred things.
important and simple reason:
objects of great value to us,
for them being themselves.
an egg at the Sistine Chapel,
to build a seven-star hotel
and overfish our oceans.
so plain and so enormous, as fragile.
too vast, too endless.
look past to the horizon.
that we take it for granted.
can ride around on Jet Skis
there's now a little corner of Cancun
these Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
of the Houses of Parliament,
about climate change
the power to help change things.
the beginning of the mission.
educators, biologists,
to the natural history museum
through a dry-glass viewing tunnel,
all the wildlife of the land
and willpower can lead us?
our art into the ocean,
of amazing creativity
giving something back,
new environments to thrive,
or maybe it's a really old way
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Jason deCaires Taylor - SculptorJason deCaires Taylor's underwater installations offer views of another world, where the artistic efforts of man meet the vivifying power of nature.
Why you should listen
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 Honours in Sculpture and went on to become a fully qualified diving instructor and underwater naturalist. With over 20 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.
In 2006, Taylor founded and created the world’s first underwater sculpture park. Situated off the west coast of Grenada in the West Indies, it is now listed as one of the Top 25 Wonders of the World by National Geographic and was instrumental in the creation of a national marine protected area by the local government. In 2009, he co-founded MUSA (Museo Subacuático de Arte), a monumental museum with a collection of over 500 of his sculptural works, submerged off the coast of Cancun, Mexico. Both of 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.
Taylor's pioneering public art projects are not only examples of successful marine conservation but also 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. He is currently based in Lanzarote part of the Canary Islands where he is working on a major new underwater museum for the Atlantic Ocean.
Jason deCaires Taylor | Speaker | TED.com