Portrait of a Kelp forest (2021, ongoing)
Portrait of a Kelp Forest is an interdisciplinary research on kelp forests
in Galicia, northern Spain. Kelp forests are considered one of the most
dynamic ecosystems on the planet and are currently threatened on a
global scale. For the project, I researched these algae with the help of the
people who know them best: local marine biologists, fishermen and algae
collectors who have been in direct contact with them for decades. But I
would like not only people to have their say in this portrait, but also the
algae themselves.
An underwater sensor has measured the movements of an algae in
Vigo's Bay, which are visualized in the exhibition. The result will be a
collaborative portrait of these algae, in which both human and non-
human entities have participated.
With my project, I would like to reflect on the importance of asking
questions about climate change in a pluriverse dialogue that go beyond the
artist's opinion, break with anthropocentric logic and thus contribute to
the decolonization of the concept of nature. My proposed participatory,
inter-agency portrait of the kelp forests, in which coastal communities,
algae, scientists and the artist herself are intertwined in a multi-causal
human/non-human network, is consistent with Donna Haraway's concept
of making Kin and is especially relevant at a historic moment when the
ocean is so badly damaged.
