|
"The Ever Changing Tide; The Ecological Dynamics of the Earth's
Oceans as Exemplified through the Biodiversity of the Queens Seafood
Markets" 2000-2001
by Brandon Ballengée
A Project by Brandon
Ballengée With the Assistance of Peter Warny, Associate
Researcher The New York State Museum Tod Gardiner, The Marine
Biology Department of Hofstra University Mercedes Lee, Carl Safina,
and Suzanne Ludicello authors of "Seafood Lover's Almanac" published
by the National Audubon Society's Living Ocean Program.
  
The earth's waters and its inhabitants
are constantly being manipulated. Over the past century, over-fishing,
global climate change, and the introduction of competitive non-native
species have caused decreased biodiversity. The commercial fishing
industry has over-fished many important economically and biologically
important fish populations. Today, catches are falling despite
the fact that expanding fleets are fishing harder, spending more
time, effort and money than ever before in trying to maintain
them.
 
The project involves the collection,
identification, phylogenic examination, and photographing of numerous
species of marine cultures available for consumption at various
Flushing, New York seafood markets. The Flushing markets each
day sell thousands of pounds of fish, mollusks, and other aquatic
food sources. Available locally are numerous species from all
over the world. As an artist interested in conservation, I have
discovered that these markets are amazingly and sometimes frighteningly
biodiverse.
 
Over the course of a year, I will
search the markets for various species with the intention of collecting
each species available (an estimated 400-450). The specimens will
be photographed, digitally recorded and preserved for a permanent
Museum collection. Working with field researchers from The New
York State Museum and Hofstra University's Marine Biology Department,
we will precisely identify the specimens for taxonomic placement.
Later assistance from scientists from the National Audubon Society¼s
Living Ocean Program, will help determine ecological status of
each species. A selection of the above mentioned researched information
will be presented in bilingual format in number of participating
venues as well as online.
 
Digital prints of the documented
animals will be created in varied sized with the intention of
creating a large wall installation. The image flow of the pieces
will be determined by the evolutionary relationships among the
species. Individual prints will be separated into families, family
into genus, genus into class, etc. The resulting wall works will
be large geometric (estimated 25 feet) wall installations symbolizing
the complex interconnected relationship among aquatic life-forms.
Species specific conservation information, such as population
density and status, will be included as bilingual text panels.
The text will be available in Mandarin, Korean, Spanish, Japanese,
and English.
|
