The coral cube is a new installation by Jason Dekare Taylor

/ Art /
British artist Jason Decare Taylor has completed work on a new sculptural installation in a coral lagoon in the Maldives. Unlike his previous works, which are completely submerged in the ocean and accessible only to those who are engaged in diving, The Coralarium is installed in shallow water 150 meters from the surf line.

Jason is trying to draw attention to the problems of the Great Barrier Reef, whose unique ecosystem is suffering from global warming. The base of The Coralarium is a cube with six-meter sides, whose stainless steel structure resembles coral thickets. Sculptures of people on its upper plane look like ordinary tourists and bathers, and from the bottom of the lagoon, figures of ocean spirits rise to meet them, as if calling for help.

Photo: Jason deCaires Taylor

Photo: Jason deCaires Taylor

The installation is located on the territory of the Fairmont Maldives Sirru Fen Fushi resort, but its visit is possible only as part of group tours conducted under the supervision of marine biologists.

Photo: Jason deCaires Taylor

"As a child, I lived near coral reefs. My parents chartered a boat on the weekends, and we explored untouched islands in Thailand and Malaysia. It left an indelible impression and forced me to explore artistic boundaries and the ocean," says Jason Dekare Taylor about himself

Developing his installations, the artist selects materials and forms that do not harm the ecosystem of reefs, do not block the path of currents and tides.

Photo: Jason deCaires Taylor

Photo: Jason deCaires Taylor

Jason's early sculptures in Malaysia off the coast of Mexico, the Bahamas and the West Indies, made of environmentally friendly concrete, have already turned into artificial reefs, entangled with algae and inhabited by molluscs and corals. Jason himself is an experienced diver and photographer, and takes a series of photos of his works at different time intervals to track how they change, becoming part of the ocean.

Self-portrait in the studio. Photo: Jason deCaires Taylor

In 2006, Taylor founded and created the world's first underwater sculpture park off the coast of Grenada in the West Indies. His second MUSA project was mentioned by Forbes in 2011 as one of the world's unique sculptural objects. See more photos of Jason's early work in our photo gallery.