The Memory of Cladocora
March 2020
Climatic models predict that the Mediterranean Sea will be among the regions most affected by water, warmth, salinity, and extreme climate events. This fact, caused by anthropogenic activities, is decimating the population of Cladocora caespitosa, a species of coral that lives in the Mediterranean Sea and provides structure and biodiversity to its marine habitats. Their disappearance will have vast economic, social and biological consequences.
The publication studies Cladocora caespitosa as a medical patient, making use of x-ray images and different scientific datasets such as temperature, pH levels and CO2. This species archives the effects of uncontrolled human activity and climate change within its own skeleton, metaphorically becoming a fossil clock. By following the deep memory of Cladocora using a scientific methodology and language, we can re-think about our responsibilities and the consequences of harming the seas and the species that are so vital for our lives, even if we are so often unaware of their significance.
With special thanks to Diego K. Kersting whose research contributed to the making of The Memory of Cladocora.
// The Memory of Cladocora by Carla Alcala Badias, Liana Kuyumcuyan and Valentine Maurice was developed during the course Pedagogies of the Sea, held by Angela Rui and Anastasia Kubrak at Design Academy Eindhoven and published on Ocean Archive.
March 2020
Climatic models predict that the Mediterranean Sea will be among the regions most affected by water, warmth, salinity, and extreme climate events. This fact, caused by anthropogenic activities, is decimating the population of Cladocora caespitosa, a species of coral that lives in the Mediterranean Sea and provides structure and biodiversity to its marine habitats. Their disappearance will have vast economic, social and biological consequences.
The publication studies Cladocora caespitosa as a medical patient, making use of x-ray images and different scientific datasets such as temperature, pH levels and CO2. This species archives the effects of uncontrolled human activity and climate change within its own skeleton, metaphorically becoming a fossil clock. By following the deep memory of Cladocora using a scientific methodology and language, we can re-think about our responsibilities and the consequences of harming the seas and the species that are so vital for our lives, even if we are so often unaware of their significance.
With special thanks to Diego K. Kersting whose research contributed to the making of The Memory of Cladocora.
// The Memory of Cladocora by Carla Alcala Badias, Liana Kuyumcuyan and Valentine Maurice was developed during the course Pedagogies of the Sea, held by Angela Rui and Anastasia Kubrak at Design Academy Eindhoven and published on Ocean Archive.
