THE SEA AS SCULPTRESS

The Sea as Sculptress was a year long photographic exploration, begun on the winter solstice, 1978, of the succession of marine life growing on wooden sculptures placed in the San Francisco Bay. The work was motivated by the realization that the wooden pier pilings and old ships that many wished to preserve were disintegrating due to an increase in the abundance of marine life resulting from the improved water quality of the bay after the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972. Using macrophotography, the project documented in great detail the organisms that grew on the sculptures placed in three locations in the bay.

From 1980-1982, the work was presented in various locations in the form of a performative lecture using multi-image slide projections. Work was completed on a web site that included much updated information about the ecology of the bay in 2010. While I had originally worried about water pollution, years later it turned out that one of the most significant factors influencing the bay’s ecology was the vast number of species introduced from the ballast water of ships traveling the globe. Sharing my slides with scientists I learned that they included some of the earliest documentation of the introduction of several species of bryzoans and sea squirts into the bay.

The original project was completed while I was artist-in-residence at the Exploratorium. The creation of the website and exhibition display were also sponsored by the Exploratorium.

The Sea as Sculptress website. Please enable Flash to view.