AUDIOVISUAL INSTALLATION
Presented by: Ocean World of Sound
Summer of 2023, sea-surface temperatures on the Mesoamerican Reef reached a record 34 °C. Poor coastal planning, runaway tourism, and massive sargassum blooms amplified the heat stress, provoking widespread bleaching of hard-coral colonies. During a bleaching event corals expel the symbiotic micro-algae that give them colour and nutrients, leaving them colorless.
Ocean World of Sound (WOS) - UNESCO endorsed action - has tracked these changes through a network of underwater listening stations and 3-D photogrammetry surveys. This installation displays 3-D models of affected coral colonies captured in Puerto Morelos a few months after the bleaching event. These virtual coral reefs interact both with the audience through a webcam and with the soundscape provided by Heather Spence’s original soundtrack that includes the sounds recorded during the bleaching event.
Two guiding ideas shape the work:
● Loss of chroma – the faded palette mirrors the desaturation of coral life.
● Human impact – subtle morphing shows how the audience will steer the virtual reef’s future.