AQUACULTURE: REGENERATIVE MACHINE
CHOREOGRAPHY FOR TIDES, MOON AND ORGANISMS

Finalist project for the ARTE LAGUNA Prize 2015–16, Land Art category.

It is a dynamic environmental installation, but also an instrument based on the vital rhythms of the organisms of the Venice Lagoon and their connection with the tides, the cosmos, and the human environment. The installation amplifies and expands these rhythms, making them perceptible. It operates through the observation of the Moon and its gravitational interactions with the Earth.

It has two main objectives:
1/ To contribute to the recovery of the lagoon bed and its endemic species, increasing biodiversity;
2/ To foster relationships among people, and between people and their environments.

The proposal heightens awareness of the vital rhythms of non-human organisms and their connection with the cyclical movements and temporalities of the tides and the cosmos, and of our natural environment—particularly through observation of the Moon.

The installation consists of the following elements: a ring delimiting the area dedicated to aquaculture; a collection of pools located in the southern part of the ring; and two strategies for observation, enjoyment, and knowledge, at short and long distances. In this way, the observer establishes direct contact with the environment through their somatic experience.

Authors: Mª Auxiliadora Gálvez Pérez and Edgardo Mercado.