The Immersion Project

COLLABORATORS
Dr. Erik Cordes, Biologist
Austen Camille, Artist
Dr. Mandy Joye, Microbiologist
Malte Leander, Artist
Christine Lee, Artist
Rebecca Rutstein, Artist

Dreamt up in 2018 by an art and science team, The Immersion Project is a concept for a multi-sensory traveling art installation that has a second life as an artificial reef in the deep sea. An immersive art installation combining sculpture, augmented reality and sound, this project is designed to contribute to restoration efforts in response to the 2010 DeepWater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico. As this unprecedented accident decimated parts of the deep sea coral ecosystem, The Immersion Project could help propagate new coral growth and provide habitat for marine life through the placement of the sculptures on the ocean floor. With an exhibition and subsequent deployment of the sculpture modules in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico led by an experienced science team, The Immersion Project resonates beyond aesthetics to help restore parts of the damaged coral reef system caused by climate change and human borne impacts. This project is an opportunity to respond to contemporary environmental issues by contributing to restoration efforts while first engaging the public in an interactive and educational art experience.

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Permanent Installation at the Mississippi Aquarium, 2024

FUNDED BY
NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration)
The National Marine Sanctuary Foundation
The Department of the Interior

This permanent commission is a hybrid initiative of the Immersion Project. Situated along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, this permanent, multi-sensory installation at the Mississippi Aquarium immerses visitors through sculpture, augmented reality and sound, shedding light on some of the restoration efforts in the Gulf of Mexico following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010. One of the key resources damaged was the deep-sea coral ecosystem, a place that is distantly removed from our everyday experience and yet vitally necessary for life on earth. Cold-water corals sequester carbon, recycle nutrients, and provide habitat for countless species of marine life.

The undulating forms of the sculptures are inspired by cold water corals endemic to the Gulf of Mexico. The layered soundscape ebbs and flows with the buzz of the coral ecosystem coming back to life. The hand-painted augmented reality experience creates a dynamic layer depicting a potential ecosystem recovery over hundreds of years.

Restoration has never been attempted in the deep sea at this scale, so the work being done by experts to restore these habitats is ground-breaking. Coral scientists are working in federal labs, and partner aquariums like Mississippi Aquarium, to raise some of the cold-water coral species most impacted by the spill and learn more about how they grow and reproduce. At the deep-sea sites, they may even test artificial structures, similar to these coral-inspired sculptures, to act as an armature to enhance growth in these important underwater communities.

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Prototype Exhibition at Tiger Strikes Asteroid Gallery, Philadelphia, 2023

FUNDED BY
Ocean Memory Project Seed Grant / National Academy of Sciences / Keck Futures Initiative

A seed grant from the Ocean Memory Project (funded by the National Academy of Sciences/Keck Futures Initiative) along with additional funding from Temple University allowed our team to create a 48″ tall prototype, proof of concept for our long term vision for a large-scale immersive installation. The 3D printed and assembled suspended form is inspired by Lophelia and Paramuricea cold water corals endemic to deep parts of the Gulf of Mexico. The prototype was part of an exhibition called “Seeing the Anthropocene” at Tiger Strikes Asteroid Gallery in Philadelphia from Oct 28 – Dec 2 2023. For more information on the exhibit, go to https://www.staphilly.com/

Overlaid onto the sculpture is an augmented reality (AR) layer, viewable through individuals’ mobile phones. Through this component, the audience can experience some of the ecosystem that has been lost due to the oil spill, but can be restored through restoration efforts. Hand drawn and animated falling marine snow, diatoms, comb jellies and brittle stars are made visible through this interactive element. Composed hybrid soundscapes combining field and hydrophonic recordings with various synthesized qualities immerses the viewer sonically into this marine world.