George Nuku BOTTLED OCEAN 2122
George Nuku brings to the Theseus Temple, the latest rendition of his Bottled Ocean concept. As the title suggests, it is an idea set 100 years in the future. A vision of ocean life fully mutated due to the proliferation of plastics affecting the marine world.
The setting inside the Theseus temple, is a submarine sunken temple. The walls lined with carved depictions of divinities representing Water, Air, Earth, Fire, Wind, and Sea interspersed with Ocean guardians. In the underwater temple swim plastic mutated versions of rays, sharks, pelagic fish, and jellyfish among plastic coral reef formations. The empty plastic bottles, transformed into lifeforms of toxic beauty, cause the viewer to be enchanted and disturbed by Nuku’s presentation of pollution as an artistic and cultural treasure. The underlying message conveyed is one of change: changing our relationship with this material we have created that now permeates every part of our world.
George Nuku (*1964) is an artist from Aotearoa/New Zealand. He is Māori of Scottish and German descent. His works range from intricate, hand-carved amulets made of beads, jade, bone and plastic to life-size stone and plexiglass sculptures and multi-story polystyrene installations of Māori demigods and heroes of Polynesian culture. He carries on a 1,000-year tradition of art passed down from his ancestors that promises to expand life and improve survival.