Site: Gulf of Mexico (The Immersion Project)

The Immersion Project is an ongoing collaborative effort between myself, artists Christine Lee, Rebecca Rutstein and Malte Leander, and scientists Dr. Erik Cordes, Ph.D., and Samantha Joye, Ph.D.

The Immersion Project is a multi-sensory installation developed by a team of artists and oceanographers to educate public audiences about deep-sea ecosystems. The project will ultimately incorporate large-scale, coral-inspired sculptures, hand-drawn augmented reality (AR) animation, and spatial sound. After a national exhibition tour, the sculptures will be installed in the Gulf of Mexico to help restore coral habitats damaged by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.

Photo by Constance Mensh. - austen camille — Photo by Constance Mensh.

Project + personal news about The Immersion Project:

Oct 28-Dec 2 2023 - Initial prototype included in the exhibition, Seeing the Anthropocene, curated by Julia Clift. Tiger Strikes Asteroid gallery + Cherry Street Pier, Philadelphia PA. See www.StAPhilly.com for more information and documentation.

Oct 29 2023 - AR documentation included in the exhibition, The Deep, at the Atelier de la Nature reserve. Arnaudville LA.

August 2023 - Personal invitation to conduct research with the invertebrate zoology department at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in order to create the AR component for our initial prototype. Washington DC.

July 2023 - The Immersion Project received an Ocean Memory Project Grant to support the creation of an initial prototype.

March 2023 - Top ten finalist for the AWE XR Climate Challenge Award.