This is a piece i have been working on the last few weeks, in which i have been producing small balls of chalk from crushing sea shells. These balls are laid out along a chalk map of the Great Barrier Reef, and the viewer is invited to take them away and return them to the ocean in bags with information on them also acting as my business card.
Buy people removing the chalk, I am trying to make a statement about the disappearance of reef systems, with only a ghostly trace of the Barrier Reef left behind. At the same time the act of putting these balls of natural calcium carbonate back into the sea, has implications of a nullifying effect on the rising PH levels of of the ocean, one of the major threats of coral reef degradation.
These jars are also an idea i have been playing about with, where plaster casts of corals are held in overly acidic sea water, the result of which is the dissolving of the casts over a period of a couple of weeks, being left with a layer of sediment.
The centre is also home to an interactive wall, highlighting the dangers coral reefs face due to climate change, covering ocean acidification, changes in ocean currents and the transference of carbon between land and sea. The piece is highly colourful and extremely intriguing inviting the viewer to explore the reef whilst imposing the message that these Eco systems are in trouble.
