Emergence under the bay. Artwork in AR/VR

Abstract

Under the Bay is an augmented reality (AR) project where a user can point their cell phone at the water – or anywhere in the world – like a microscope and reveal invisibilities under the largest estuary in North America, the Chesapeake Bay. A series of animated stories between humans and non-humans emerge when they do. Images, sounds, and stories are effected by live data streamed in from sensors located in the Bay. Sensors in the Chesapeake Bay relay live pH, oxygen, temperature, saline (salt), chlorophyl (microbes) and turbidity (clarity) to the project. Similar to the water itself, color, speed, and audio fluctuate with the water and marine life, making Under the Bay a data-driven narrative with eight scenes that tell a story of a world beneath the marine surface, and the exciting but frail health of estuaries and oceans worldwide. Related projects discussed here include What is the Shape of Water? (2020), the experiential reality (XR) version of Under the Bay that includes the Chamber of Wonders installation (2022) and Deep Star (2024). These are part of a series of cross-species artworks aimed at diminishing human-centered exceptionalism. The marine collaborations began in 2019 when I was the inaugural Artist-in-Resident at the Institute for Marine and Environmental Technology (IMET). There, I met researcher and marine biologist, Dr. Tsvetan Bachvaroff where he and I immediately shared a like-minded vision to develop a project that exemplified phenomenal exceptionalisms in micro-organisms.