In Collaboration with our Ocean | Ogilvie & Page
Into the Oceanic at COP26
As COP26 enters its second week, we bring your our top art pick. Scottish artists Elizabeth Ogilvie and Robert Page have made it their mission in this latest collaborative endeavour, Into the Oceanic, to colour Glasgow’s buildings with enriching, life-giving, carbon sequestering kelps, grasses and more. Here, the artists are highlighting and celebrating the tools – if nurtured and protected – we already have at our disposal to grab hold of our rising global average temperature.
Into the Oceanic is “an illuminating project engendering hope … championing progress in tackling the climate emergency by reinvigorating ocean life”. Created for COP26 (and beyond) the project comprises two main filmed works and a series of presentations & discussions in a central Glasgow hub, now open at Glasgow School of Art. The project is a call to action and collaborative public engagement, culminating in a series of mobile projection bombings around the city on the evening of November 12th.
Film still | Into the Oceanic (artists’ film)
“At a fundamental level, marine life helps determine the very nature of our planet, with every second breath we take generated by the ocean.
Kelp forests, seagrass meadows and saltmarshes, amongst other ocean environments - our so-called blue carbon habitats - represent significant opportunities to offer a nature-based solution to mitigate and adapt to climate change and provide invaluable havens for marine life.
This visceral meditation on such ecosystems, recorded in atlantic and north sea waters, celebrates some of our greatest weapons to combat climate change by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and proposes the vision of a dynamic collaboration for us all with the ocean – our revered partner.”
Film still | Into the Oceanic (artists’ film)
This ambitious and immersive art-science film project has been created in collaboration with Artport and curator Anne-Marie Melster. It features two principal outputs: an artist’s documentary film, revealing investigation and collaboration with world-class marine scientists, working remotely and sustainably; and an experiential, semi-abstract outdoor film projection, of striking footage shot in areas of Scottish marine conservation. The intention is to sharpen awareness about ocean protection and directly engage the public – to offer entry points and bring people onboard.
Removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere will play a necessary role in preventing rising temperatures and future climate catastrophe and the principal players in these film projects – kelp forests, seagrass meadows and saltmarshes – are among our secret weapons in that battle. A thriving ocean equals a thriving planet, and Into the Oceanic is both a powerful artivist piece and stunningly beautiful love letter to our underwater world. “The ocean is as dependent on us, humankind, as we are on the ocean”, the team explains.
Above: the team moved to Edinburgh for one evening, turning this George Street façade green with seagrass, captured by Dr Richard Lilley. Greenwashing – but in the only acceptable way. While the conference itself thus far has been accompanied by accusations of irresolution, the same most certainly can not be said about artworks on show during COP.
We’ve added two other COP picks to our Instagram stories. Into the Oceanic has had a flurry of positive interaction online – keep a lookout for more at intotheoceanic.org and on Instagram + Twitter @intotheoceanic.
Film still images by Ogilvie & Page | Projection documentation by Patrick O'Shea | All material © 2021 | Text by the artists, Artport and A La Luz
