Pretty, enticing and ecologically cool: artist Jason deCaires Taylor’s Underwater Sculpture project off the coast of Cancun, Mexico also serve as artificial reefs to help save over-touristed natural ones, and add more to the ecosystem. Plus, the idea of snorkeling and pretending I’ve discovered Atlantis could keep my simple brain going “whee!” for hours. That’s probably the whole idea. Along with their small but lovely gallery, Guardian explains:
Sunk to the bottom of the seabed are 350 human forms – cast from real people – with another 50 to be come before the Museo Subacuático de Arte officially opens next month. This is the work of Jason deCaires Taylor, a scuba-diving British sculptor who trained at the Camberwell College of Art, and whose previous installations include submerged figures in Grenada. The sculptures are made from a special cement with a neutral PH, which will attract corals to grow on them, and covering 420sq metres, the underwater museum, he hopes, will draw people away from the fragile natural reefs.
* Guardian gallery: Jason deCaires Taylor: sculpture submerged.
* Don’t miss: Taylor’s glorious gallery collection
I think it is marvellous that a human being is able to create such beauty under water. It is better than the Chinese terracotta army because it expresses the soul of the human race being supernaturally involved in its preservation as well as protecting the paradise given to humanity in danger of being lost . Your art talks more in the underwater silence than all the world conferences on ecology. Bravo Jason, I hope that many more countries will benefit from your creation.