Paul Walde is an artist, composer, and curator. Walde’s body of work suggests unexpected interconnections between landscape, identity, and technology. In 2013, he completed ‘Requiem for a Glacier’, a site-specific sound performance featuring a fifty-five-piece choir and orchestra live on the Farnham Glacier in the Purcell Mountains. In this interview with art and ecology author, John K. Grande, he discusses this work as well as his other projects.
Art For Your World is a new campaign for WWF, led by curatorial practice Artwise, to mobilise and unite the art world in the fight against the climate crisis. From practising artists to commercial galleries, cultural centres to museums and beyond, this is a wide call to action for the cultural sector to come together with a united voice to say that climate change matters and we must act now. As part of the Art For Your World campaign, WWF commissioned three limited edition prints from acclaimed artists Chila Kumari Singh Burman, Heather Phillipson and Bob and Roberta Smith.
“We are visual creatures. But underwater, visibility falls off dramatically and the kinds of visual observations that biologists use to study terrestrial ecosystems are not practical. Studying what is happening under the ocean requires a different approach. Ocean Acoustics uses sound to listen in to what’s happening and collect data that illuminates life in the ocean. Land ecologists study landscape, geology and weather. Ocean acousticians study soundscapes. This project makes visible the invisible world of sound in the sea. I created densely embroidered silk panels that help describe what researchers are discovering. The artwork illustrates the largest daily migration of zooplankton, the sound enhancing SOFAR channel, phytoplankton and the dramatic vocalizations of marine life gathered by hydrophones. I drew inspiration from the work of the Swiss embroidery artist Lissy Funk and the work of textile artist Lenore Tawney.” – Lindsay Olson.
Dr Alexandra Schnell is a Research Fellow of Darwin College and a Research Associate in the Comparative Cognition Lab at the University of Cambridge. Her research interests centre on complex learning and memory mechanisms in animals and how these abilities have evolved across diverse taxa. Her primary model species include cephalopods (octopus, cuttlefish, and squid) and corvids (members of the crow family) but she also has experience working with elephants, freshwater fish, and juvenile crocodiles. In addition to her interest in cognitive evolution, she also has an interest in sensory ecology, neuro-ethology, sentience, and welfare. She currently holds a Newton International Fellowship funded by the Royal Society.
A leading figure in art and ecology, John K. Grande is author of a range of books that include ‘Balance: Art and Nature’ and ‘Art Space Ecology’. In this article he discusses the work of sculptor and environmentalist, Jason deCaires Taylor, in particular his major project Museo Atlantico, a collection over 300 submerged sculptures and architectural forms in Lanzarote, Spain, the first of its kind in European waters. His pioneering public art projects are not only examples of successful marine conservation, but 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.
Jonathan Bamber is Professor of Physical Geography, University of Bristol. His main areas of interest are in applications of satellite remote sensing data in the polar regions. More specifically, he has been working on the use of remote sensing data to study the behaviour of the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, glaciers and ice caps in the Arctic, Patagonia and to use these observations to test and/or improve climate and Earth System models. He is also using satellite and ground based data to investigate past and present variations in sea level.
Dr. Kate Stafford is a Principal Oceanographer at the Applied Physics Lab and affiliate Associate Professor in the School of Oceanography at the University of Washington in Seattle. She has worked in marine habitats all over the world, from the tropics to the poles, and is fortunate enough to have seen (and recorded) blue whales in every ocean in which they occur. Stafford’s current research focuses on the changing acoustic environment of the Arctic and how changes from declining sea ice to increasing industrial human use may be influencing subarctic and Arctic marine mammals.
Ian Kane is Reader in Geology, University of Manchester. “I’m interested in how sediment, including mineral grains, organic fragments and anthropogenic material (such as microplastic), is moved across Earth’s surface and where it ends up. My main focus is on deep-marine environments which are the ultimate sinks for much of this sediment.”
Michael Clare is Principal Researcher in Marine Geoscience, National Oceanography Centre. His research interests include understanding how onshore sediment transport systems link to those in the deep sea, characterising seafloor geohazards, quantifying the rate and flux of deep sea particulate transport (including pollutants) over timescales from minutes to millions of years, assessing risks posed to globally important seafloor infrastructure, such as telecommunications cables and pipelines, by submarine geohazards, linking modern seafloor processes with ancient geological archives through integration of direct monitoring, repeat seafloor surveys, and sedimentary analysis and exploring novel tools to monitor seafloor hazards.
Joyce Yamada is a Brooklyn-based artist working in both painting and multi-media installation. An intuitive painter using complex imagery, she is profoundly interested in science, ecology, and the environment. She probes the relationship between humans and nature, the deep history of life on earth, and our possible futures.
Courtney Mattison creates intricately detailed and large-scale ceramic sculptural works inspired by the fragile beauty of coral reefs and the human-caused threats they face. She raises awareness for the protection of our blue planet, urging policy makers and the public to conserve our changing seas.