Understanding the ocean through art, science and technology
Arizona State University assistant professor Christine Lee was selected to be an Artist-At-Sea this summer by the Schmidt Ocean Institute, a private non-profit operating foundation dedicated to advancing oceanographic research, discovery and knowledge, and to catalyzing the sharing of information about the oceans. The institute’s Artist-At-Sea Program engages artists to work with scientists to help people better understand the ocean. In the institute’s words, “Artists and scientists both have the ability to offer a deeper understanding of our Ocean. They are important storytellers that help people to see in new ways.” In the post below, Lee reflects on what she experienced as an Artist-at-Sea.
This past summer I had the opportunity to sail for 32 straight days onboard the Falkor research vessel in the Pacific Ocean through the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s Artist-At-Sea Program. I was selected as an artist to engage and work with an interdisciplinary team of scientists, led by Primary Investigator and Professor of Biology Les Watling from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, who would be mapping the seafloor, collecting water mass and water flow history, and collecting corals, animals and microbes at various seamounts (underwater mountains that never breach the surface).
One of the pressing questions the science team set out to answer was the location of a biogeographic boundary where deep sea coral diversity was almost completely different somewhere along the Emperor Seamount Chain. To investigate this, a total of 11 dives, at depths ranging from 1,500 to 2,400 meters deep, were conducted to collect various octocoral species and other marine organisms with a ROV (remotely operated vehicle) named SuBastian and equipped with mechanical arms and containers, as well as video cameras for navigation and to broadcast live feeds. My specific role was to use the collected data and specimens, as well as the overall experience of being out at sea, to inspire and inform creative prototypes and artistic works that I would be making during the research cruise. Here are highlights from a few of the resulting projects and pieces I created.
Prior to the research cruise departure from Honolulu, I worked with ASU computer science major Sahas Chitlange at the MKRspace in Hayden Library to learn AutoDesk ReCap Pro, a photogrammetry program that would allow me to create 3D scans from images taken with my iPhone, and AutoDesk Fusion 360, a 3D modeling program used to create STL files from the scans to create 3D printed objects. Using these programs and with the help of ROV supervisor Jason Rodriguez and ROV pilot Zach Bright, I was able to 3D print some of the specimens collected while onboard to capture the incredible diversity of forms and surfaces of these beautiful sea organisms.
Additionally through the live video stream I was able to witness an amazing show in real time of the ancient and young corals, sponges and other deep sea life in situ, with their textures and colors, as well as the morphology of their mechanisms used to sense, regulate and obtain food and other elements from their environment. Fascinated by the polyps located on the Bamboo Coral that would retract all across the form when touched by SuBastian’s mechanical arm, I modified folding patterns to recreate this action and experimented with skin textures layering various materials.
The dynamic movement of bodies of ocean water plays a role in species diversity and distribution. The swirling of ocean water into currents that flow in a somewhat circular motion are known as mesoscale eddies, with the rotation dependent on the temperature and salinity of the water masses inside and outside the eddy. Focusing on eddies located in the region where our research cruise was exploring, I worked with Glenn Carter, associate professor in the Department of Oceanography at UH Manoa, to embroider on paper the estimated averages of these eddies. Using the gradient numbers calculated by Glenn that characterize the Bell curve for each eddie, I created a stitching pattern sequence with cooler tones stitched counterclockwise for eddies under the sea surface, and warmer tones stitched clockwise for eddies above. (Note: The direction would be reverse for eddies in the Southern hemisphere).
One of the many valuable and significant aspects of my experience at sea has been to converse with the scientists about the questions that lead to deeper inquiry. I find the overarching question regarding the existence of a biogeographic boundary along the Emperor Seamount Chain a really fascinating one as it causes me to think about what constitutes or defines “boundaries” in a fluid and dynamic system, how they are controlled or directed, permeableness and diffusion. At the same time, I find my interest in “skins” with textures, tactile qualities and fluid pressure has grown, as I consider links between ourselves and the deep sea/marine life and organisms we are exploring, and upcoming artworks to create on the horizon. Perhaps textures and touch interactions are one of the threads that connect us.
– Christine Lee, assistant professor, ASU School of Art
