Crystal Cove Conservancy Celebrates the Opening of Transformative Currents: Art and Action in the Pacific Ocean
PC: Chris Launi
On Saturday, September 21, 2024, with the generous support of Bank of America, Crystal Cove Conservancy proudly celebrated the opening of Transformative Currents: Art and Action in the Pacific Ocean, as part of Getty’s PST ART: Art & Science Collide initiative. The event featured Mare Liberum, Reimagined (2024), an installation by artists Maja Godlewska and Marek Ranis, showcased in Historic District Cottage #46.
Getty’s initiative PST ART: Art & Science Collide, includes more than 70 exhibitions across Southern California. Within this initiative, Transformative Currents: Art and Action in the Pacific Ocean – is a project curated by Cassandra Coblentz (with assistant curators Aaron Katzeman and Ziying Duan) to explore the question, “Can art enact positive ecological change in the Pacific Ocean while simultaneously addressing the historical causes and ongoing effects of cultural and environmental devastation?”
Transformative Currents: Art and action in the Pacific Ocean features diverse works by 21 contemporary artists at three different locations. Collaborative teams were organized around the theme of ocean currents, which traverse the Pacific and suggest fluidity, interconnectivity, and collective responsibility. In addition to the primary exhibition at Oceanside Museum of Art, Crystal Cove is one of two satellite presentations of Transformative Currents alongside the Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA). On display in Crystal Cove’s historic Cottage #46, Mare Liberum, Reimagined (2024), is one installation within Coblentz’s curated project that combines physical, suspended elements, and virtual reality components.
“We’re honored to be one of the satellite locations for this year’s PST ART: Art & Science Collide presented by Getty. Crystal Cove has always been at the crossroads of art and nature, and this installation – focused on protecting important marine habitats like those found right off the coast at Crystal Cove – presents a unique opportunity,” said Kate Wheeler, President and CEO of Crystal Cove Conservancy. “Bringing art and science together in the way Maja and Marek’s Mare Liberum, Reimagined does, allows people to understand the issues we face in protecting places like Crystal Cove State Park and the importance of protecting habitats like kelp forests in new ways,” continued Wheeler.
PC: Chris Launi
The exhibition opening was celebrated in company with Colbentz, Goldewska, Ranis, Crystal Cove Conservancy President and CEO Kate Wheeler, and the cove community. Guests heard from the artists and learned about the inspiration behind Transformative Currents. We invite you to join us at Crystal Cove in Cottage #46: Mare Liberum, Reimagined, to experience this amazing exhibit in a truly unique environment. The first guests in attendance explored the immersive, virtual reality installation with Godlewska and Ranis present to answer questions. The experience featured a series of informative videos and navigation through a kelp forest maze of suspended paintings on mesh screen panels. The panels represent the tangled verticality of a kelp grove.
Transformative Currents: Art and Action in the Pacific Ocean is the first exhibition in Southern California to channel this geographically diverse range of perspectives on environmental issues throughout the entirety of the Pacific Ocean. Organized around four themes
- Research-based Practices: Scientific Methods and Ecologies of Knowledge
- Oceanic Reciprocity: Human and More-than-Human Relationships with the Ocean
- Sited Art Actions: Methodologies in Engaging Community and Pacific Environments
- Futuring in the Present: Proposals for Eco-social Futurisms
The exhibition emphasizes ecosystem interconnectedness and encourages multidisciplinary approaches to environmental challenges. Through its holistic lens, Transformative Currents seeks to inspire collective responsibility and a deeper understanding of the Pacific’s ecological and cultural landscapes. Transformative Currents: Art and Action in the Pacific Ocean, featuring Mare Liberum, Reimagined (2024) by Maja Godlewska and Marek Ranis, will be open to the public through January 19, 2025. We encourage you to come to experience this installation for yourself.
