Species Encounter: Dive In!
Participatory Installation
Large Screen, video-projection, shapes made of cardboard and recycled plastic.
created in 2014
SubZERO festival in San Jose, in June 2014.

This installation was also shown in Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History MAH during GLOW A Festival Of Light, Santa Cruz, October 2014.

Species Encounter: Dive In! at the Sub Zero Festival in San Jose, CA.

Species Encounter: Dive In! is an interactive multimedia installation, which comprises a large shadow theater, a series of animal shapes and a video projection. The public is invited to move the shapes as the video is projected from behind the screen.

“Billions of pounds of plastic can be found in our oceans. Around the world, plastic pollution has become a growing plague, clogging our waterways, and damaging marine ecosystems. 44 percent of all seabird species, 22 percent of cetaceans, all sea turtle species and a growing list of fish species have been documented with plastic in or around their bodies. Most of what we eat, drink, or use in any way comes packaged in petroleum plastic- a material designed to last forever, yet used for products that we then throw away.
Seek out alternatives to the plastic items that you rely on.”

The installation is an allegory for the plastic we consume ending up invading the seas and oceans, being absorbed and eaten by many different marine species and threatening them. In the installation, the animals shapes of fish (like lanternfish and opah), sea turtles (like leatherback sea turtle and hawksbill turtle) and marine mammals (like harbor seals, sperm whales, dolphins), are made of recyclable cardboard. The center of each shape is filled with recycled plastic packaging.

The installation was originally created by Michele Guieu and became a collaborative work with Drew Detweiler bringing the interactive video component to the project. The projection is generated from drawings and video footage combined together to create an ever changing underwater-scape.