FadingColours

The interactive installation FadingColours combines living algae cultures with data on coral bleaching in the world’s oceans almost in real-time. In this way, the living data sculptures directly reflect the situation under the sea surface.

Coral reefs provide protection and habitat for numerous underwater species and live in close symbiosis with algae cultures and obtain their nutrients from them. Climate change is altering the living conditions of the algae. If they disappear, the lack of nutrients in the coral leads to bleaching, and our world literally loses its colour.

The installation features five data sculptures with living algae cultures connected to NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch, a global monitoring system for coral reefs using satellite data, climate models, and AI-driven predictive analysis. In the 2024 version of the ongoing series since 2022, visitors can explore data from all 219 monitored reefs on an interactive tabletop. The installation visualizes ecological states by adjusting the algae’s conditions to mirror reef health. With a added multilingual audio option, FadingColours is accessible to wider audiences.

The installation does not recreate the ocean but allows algae to be present as indicators of what is happening beneath the water’s surface, far away from most of our daily lives. By linking these organisms to real-time data, FadingColours creates a moment where audiences can witness environmental shifts that often remain unseen. The work is not about control but about coming closer and making space to observe and reflect on the fragile relationships between living systems, climate data, and our within these changes.

Credits:
Noor Stenfert Kroese