Museum of Marine Life 2119

By Songyu Bao| Student category

“Digitalisation helps to minimise mistakes, which helps us to make more variations of the artwork rather than using a trial and error method, wasting resources. Yes, one can argue that sometimes we create amazing works out because of mistakes but I believe the time taken to create works precisely outweighs an accidental creation.”

~ Bao Songyu

Museum of Marine Life 2119 (MML2119) is a metaphorical visualisation of a probable future and the lethal effects of the Anthropocene. MML set its stage in 2119 when marine creatures are extinct and a marine biologist decides to build a series of nostalgic chimerical specimens, a tribute to vanished life forms in the form of a menagerie of kinetic sculptures. We follow the perspective of the marine biologist as he/she can only rely on intangible human recollections and no artifacts of the defunct phylum. The biologist wishes to re-recreate or re-represent what marine life used to be to educate the future generations about the devastating effects of the anthropocene.

MML2119 follows a four steps framework. In the spirit of oral transmission of traditions, the primary and basic building blocks for the genesis of a specimen are surveys. Over 300 survey participants suggested specimens to recreate. Surveyees had to describe with words both anatomy and behaviours of marine life. The words enable freedom of interpretation and most depictions depart from the accurate facts and open the door to interpretation, as oral transmission does. Following the surveys, a compilation of creatures that have been nominated by at least 20 people shortlists four specimens to be recreated.

The rules of re-creation features are the following. First, the description can only refer to terrestrial animals (non-marine life). Second, the movements are based on highest frequency of reported actions. These movements/mechanisms will be the bedrock of most of the features. Third, physical appearance of specimens will then be added to structure based on the frequency (highest to lowest) of characteristics complied from the surveys. The found objects stuck/infused onto the specimens represent rubbish and pollutants that are produced by human advancement and expansion. For aesthetics, the mechanical movements and looks are an exaggeration of the non-organic creations.

Materials that threaten marine life are embedded into the sculptures, e.g. fuses, straws, tubes, rubber, electronics, glass and the like to represent marine creatures’ adaption to pollutants generated by human development before their extinction. All specimens are 3D printed and the given “bleached look” of the material suggest degeneration, remnants of carcass, the withering of life and species approaching extinction.

Location

ADM Gallery 1

About the Artist

Bao Songyu is a maker-designer fixated with movement and physicality. His works ranges from installations to kinetic sculptures with elements of robotics and technical design. He aims to continue experimenting with different materials used in 3D printing as well as production to further his understanding of materials and their application.

https://maker-bao.com