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"The Ever Changing Tide; The Ecological
Dynamics of the Earth's Oceans as Exemplified through the Biodiversity
of the Queens Seafood Markets" 2000-2001
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.
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