After closing temporarily to begin construction on the largest capital improvement project in its history, the Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego will open Embodied Pacific: Ocean Unseen Friday.
Embodied Pacific is described as "blending art and science into one unique experience," allowing visitors to explore Scripps and Indigenous science through the eyes of artists. A total of 18 artists across 10 projects contributed to the exhibition.
Embodied Pacific: Ocean Unseen is one of the six locations of Embodied Pacific which features projects by 30 artists working with researchers in Southern California and the Pacific Islands.
"Collectively, the exhibition asks us to consider how ocean science technology is not just about "high tech" but also very much about the tools we use to shape our understanding of the ocean's unseen mysteries," a statement from Scripps read.
Installations include:
- Archiving an Aquarium, Hans Baumann and James Nisbet: Using archival footage and blueprints from the 1992 Hall of Fishes they create a "virtual aquarium" that highlights the evolution of the aquarium's efforts to bring the ocean to the public;
- Fish Phone Booth, Ash Eliza Smith and Robert Twomey: Creates an interactive audio and sensory media experience where storytelling meets a guided sound bath;
- Kumeyaay Ha Kwaiyo, Stan Rodriguez with Priscilla Ortiz, Andrew Pittman and Nan Renner: A tule boat hangs above guests, as if floating on the ocean surface. A nearby film by Andrew James Pittman tells the behind-the- scenes story of how boatmaking embodies Indigenous resilience, resistance and revival;
- La Jolla Forest, Dwight Hwang and Oriana Poindexter + Mohammad Sedarat of the Smith Laboratory: An immersive artwork created by Oriana Poindexter and Dwight Hwang to "highlight both the beauty and the fragility" of Giant Kelp; and
- Unbleached, Scott McAvoy + Sandin and Smith Laboratories: A digitization and visualization of key coral reef environments over time.
Other new experiences in the reopened Birch include Riveropolis, a play river and Coral Classroom, which "takes an up-close look at the care and conservation of tropical coral."
Birch is in the process of replacing its Hall of Fishes with a new exhibition allowing guests to "journey through the Pacific Ocean."
Living Seas will debut next summer. It has been designed to inspire a love of nature, a sense of place and ocean optimism, a statement from the aquarium said.
According to the Birch, over the last 30 years, the Hall of Fishes has welcomed more than 12 million guests. Aquarium officials are inviting the public to take one last look before construction on Living Seas begins Sept. 29.
Living Seas will feature expanded viewing windows, digital displays and immersive projections. The experience begins in the Pacific Northwest's cooler waters, featuring a Giant Pacific Octopus habitat and jellies, according to the aquarium.
Next, guests can discover Coastal California in the aquarium's Giant Kelp Forest and a reimagined Scripps Pier experience that "provides an engaging look at cutting-edge research from Scripps Institution of Oceanography," the aquarium statement read.
The adventure ends in the Tropical Pacific, where corals, reefs and a mangrove habitat await.
