Titled “Zoe,” it’s the brainchild of Colleen Flanigan, a socio-ecological artist whose work captures both the whimsical beauty of the ocean and the urgent need to protect it.
Based in the coastal town of Santa Cruz, California, she’s acutely aware of the threats facing the oceans — and their inhabitants.
“(Corals are) very like to be the first major ecosystem to go extinct,” Flanigan warns, due to “ocean acidification and climate change.”
Not content with simply documenting marine decline in her art, she has taken action.
This underwater structure is charged with a low-voltage current that causes sea minerals to deposit on its surface, forming a natural substrate onto which corals can cement.
In time, Zoe has become a functioning coral reef. The goal is to provide a habitat for endangered biodiversity and engage with the art community about marine protection.
Launched in 2016, Tilt Brush is a way to paint in 3D. With a VR headset, two hand-held controllers, and a gaming PC, the technology allows its users to enter a giant virtual orb where strokes of color can be created in any direction.
Very different to painting in 2D, Flanigan says “the whole world around you becomes a blank canvas where you can dream, play, escape. It’s about being free, and I really feel liberated.”
Flanigan’s love affair with the tech began when Google invited her to become a Tilt Brush Artist-in-Residence in August 2016. Along with a group of fellow creative consultants, she helped test the app and gave feedback to the development team before the technology was released. It was a turning point in her career.
Flanigan has since become a leading artist on the platform, using it for a range of creative visual pieces, including her coral designs.
“Before Tilt Brush, I felt that a lot of my colorful and fanciful ideas would be trapped forever in my head because I wouldn’t know how to get them out,” she said. “After Tilt Brush, I can go in there and spend a few hours and pretty quickly whip out a bunch of different coral colonies and different fish.”
For her next project, Flanigan is working on a hypothetical projection of what our world will look like in the future. She is developing an augmented reality piece to help people envisage the destruction resulting from rising sea levels.
“Art is a catalyst for change,” she says. “It can help speak to people who aren’t thinking about the ocean … so everyone can start to say, ‘now I see how I’ll get involved in this next phase of rebuilding a sustainable future for our planet.'”