CORALS
Marco Barotti
Corals raises awareness about the precarious situation of coral reefs and the urgent need to establish a harmonious relationship with the underwater world. The installation features kinetic sound sculptures that resemble branch corals in an immersive underwater environment.
Real-time data on ocean conditions and coral bleaching alert areas are visualized on a monitor, while the very same data feed into machine learning models to modulate sound, visuals, and movement of the installation. Driven by AI capable of analyzing ocean conditions based on environmental data about sea surface temperatures, ocean acidification, UV radiation, ocean currents, sea level rise and coral reef bleaching, this work aims to raise awareness of the climate crisis and threats facing coral.
Data on coral reef bleaching, extracted in real time, is transformed by AI into endlessly evolving shamanistic sounds that emanate from the coral sculptures. In addition, the sculptures emit movement and light in response to ocean conditions, transforming each sculpture into a living coral.
The sounds are learned by AI from audio recordings of coral reef colonies and collected shamanistic ritual music from around the world. Through the movements, sounds, and vibrations this work encapsulates, viewers can gain awareness of the climate crisis and its impact on the oceans, deepening the relationship between humans and nature.
Marco Barotti (Italy) is a media artist. After music studies at the Siena Jazz Academy, he began merging sound with visual art. His work is driven by a desire to invent an artistic language in which a fictional post-futurist era is expressed through kinetic sound interventions in natural and urban environments. His installations merge audio technology, consumer objects, and waste into moving sculptures triggered entirely by sound. The primary focus of his work is to create a “tech ecosystem” that plays with resemblances to animals and plants. These artworks serve as a metaphor for the anthropogenic impact on the planet and aim to make people aware of environmental and social issues.