Oceans are crucial to the planet’s well-being. They help regulate the global carbon cycle, support the resilience of ecosystems and provide livelihoods for communities. The oceans as guardians of planetary health are threatened by many forces, including growing extractivist practices. This book presents a richly-illustrated study that unites science and art to examine the ecological, cultural, philosophical and aesthetic reverberations of this current threat to the oceans.
Prospecting Ocean takes as its starting point an exhibition by Armin Linke, which was commissioned by TBA21–Academy, London, and first shown at the Institute of Marine Science (CNR-ISMAR) in Venice. Linke is concerned with making the invisible visible, and here he unmasks the technologies that enable extractions from the ocean, including future seabed mining for minerals and sampling of genetic data. But the book extends far beyond Linke’s research, presenting the latest research from a variety of fields and employing art as the place where disciplines can converge. Integrating the work of artists with scientific, theoretical and philosophical analysis, Prospecting Ocean demonstrates that visual culture offers new and urgent perspectives on ecological crises.
About the Author
Stefanie Hessler, Director of Kunsthall Trondheim in Norway, is a curator, writer and editor. She has curated exhibitions by artists including Joan Jonas, Armin Linke, Marjetica Potrč, Christine Sun Kim and Jenna Sutela.
About the Publisher
Established in 1962, the MIT Press is one of the largest and most distinguished university presses in the world, and a leading publisher of books and journals at the intersection of science, technology, art, social science and design. MIT Press books and journals are known for their intellectual, daring, scholarly standards, interdisciplinary focus and distinctive design.
