Sea. Under the. Where Science Meets Art

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1 Under the Sea By creating mesmerizing works of art, Miami s is improving the understanding and appreciation of cor al species. B y O m a r S o m m e r e y n s P h o t o g r a ph y b y J u s t i n e U n g a r o 48 H o r i zo n s Where Science Meets Art Po r t u g u e s e M a n - of-wa r H o r i zo n s 49

2 Aquaculture Laboratory Coral Morphologic s Miami-based laboratory is home to a massive aquarium with various types of coral and sea anemones. At first glance, the page s translucent cascade of soft pinks, purples, and blues resembles strands of beads or colorful balloons. Rather, it s a microscopic view of what s under the sea. The striking visual is actually a high-definition portrait of the long, thin tendrils of a Portuguese man-of-war, a jellyfish-like invertebrate. This aquatic wizardry is the work of Coral Morphologic, a Miami-based coral aquaculture laboratory and multimedia aquarium studio that brings to light some of the magical life-forms that can be found off South Florida s shores. Coral Morphologic is a collaboration of longtime friends Colin Foord, a marine biologist and photographer, and Jared McKay, a multimedia artist. They explore reefs, research and clone corals in their own aquarium, make educational films, and photograph marine life using cutting-edge illumination techniques. Our aim is to create multimedia that advances scientific discussion in a manner that is both artistic and understandable, Foord says. By creating unique imagery via eye-popping videography, fluorescent photos, and 3-D digital aquascapes, the endeavor is establishing an entirely new artistic medium. The partners short films use the latest in HD video and digital technology, sounds that enhance the mood and capture the slow ballet of underwater life in zoomed-in, sped-up ways. The work demonstrates how scientists and artists ask similar questions about what we see and know, or in Coral Morphologic s case, what we have never seen or known. The forms we work with are highly fluorescent and require innovative technology and chemistry to thrive, Foord says. It s a fascinating synthesis. There is something futuristic about the worlds we create, and yet the central guiding theme of our work is the aspect that modern-day Miami, with its own fluorescent man-made colors, has been built on ancient corals. From our perspective, the branding of Miami as a coralreef city is something artists have yet to adequately address. When they re not under the sea, Foord and McKay can be found inside their 3,000-square-foot aquaculture laboratory, where they cultivate a massive aquarium that resembles an artificial reef which is home to stony and soft corals, sea slugs, sea anemones, and a type of coral-like sea anemone known as corallimorphs. The duo have supplied corals to the Smithsonian Institution Marine Lab and the California Academy of Science s Steinhart Aquarium for public display. They are working on a paper with the world s foremost authority on zoanthid corals to describe two new species that Foord has recently discovered. Many of our specimens were previously overlooked and unspoken for in the world, but we re helping to change that, Foord explains. Using super-macro lenses, specialized filters, and special lighting, their photographs reveal seemingly limitless combinations of colors and forms of these lesser-known creatures. We use the golden ratio in the artistic sense of color, contrast, ( Continued on page 52 ) Red People Eaters 50 Horizons Horizons 51

3 gabriel & Co. Flower Anemone and proportion, while still maintaining scientific accuracy, Foord says. Take, for example, the incredible image of the Red People Eater, a coral with multiple orange disks and neon-green mouths; or the photo of the Floridian Orange Morph Flower Anemone, which is literally a surreal watercolor of an anemone s tentacles in full bloom, with green-, yellow-, and orangestriped beads that flow to a slightly opened mouth; or the close-up of the Ricordea florida corallimorph, with its spherical tentacles that look like green fruit. People don t encounter land animals with this kind of fluorescence, says Foord. It still blows my mind every day that I work with these animals. The work necessitates care and patience a major obstacle that the dynamic duo overcomes is the painstaking time and effort it takes to realize their vision. They have to search for creatures so small that they are almost imperceptible to the naked eye. If they re slow-growing corals, Foord and McKay have to wait for months. Then, factor in the trial and error that comes with such uncharted territory, especially in the lab. Just because two things look good together doesn t mean they can exist together, Foord remarks. From a practical standpoint, we can only start creating art once we have introduced all the individual components and they are acclimated to the new environment. It usually takes anywhere from two days to one year for us to achieve the right image, depending on the project. For The Lettuce Slug, Foord and McKay needed a day to set up all the individual components, such as green algae, rocks, and a sci-fi-esque lettuce sea slug. It took a day to film the slug searching for the algae with its antennae. The slug stored some of the chloroplasts from eaten algae ( Continued on page 55 ) 52 Horizons Horizons 53

4 Lettuce Slug Portuguese Man-of-War Green Vices Macro Tie-Dye Coral in its tissue, giving it the green coloration and providing photosynthetic energy. The lettuce-looking ruffles along the back of the slug help to camouflage it, so in the wild it s very easy to swim past one of these tiny solarpowered creatures without ever noticing it. It took some effort to videotape, but giving people such a rare glimpse of this miraculous animal makes it all worthwhile, Foord says. Foord and McKay ultimately aim to transform their ever-growing homegrown ecosystem into 3-D digital aquascapes, accessible worldwide. They re similar to a landscape, Foord notes, except aquascapes feature live marine animals in various aquacultured environments like seagrass, mangrove, or reef. Instead of a static screen saver at work, a living coral reef will play in the background. In a living room, it will please home owners on a television. As a mobile app, it will be available anytime, anywhere. In hospitals or nursing homes, it will bring smiles. The first one will greet visitors at Miami International Airport as a part of a new-content mediaprogramming initiative. Foord sees the potential of these digital aquariums as being therapeutic. Scientific studies have proven that aquariums reduce stress levels and anxiety; they simultaneously stimulate the senses and calm the nerves, he says. We ll keep the aquariums here. We ll do all the maintenance, while people can relax and stream them anywhere. Hopefully, ten years from now, it will become a widespread, commonplace aesthetic: a soothing element in everyone s life. For more information, visit coralmorphologic. com and morphologicstudios.com. 54 Horizons Horizons 55

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