Life at the Edge
After a forest fire
The Brazilian Amazon region holds half of the tropics’ undisturbed forests. At the same time it has the highest rate of deforestation of the planet. It is cleared for agriculture and infrastructure. A chunk nearly the size of Switzerland is felled or burned every year – a total loss of 17% of its total area since 1970.
Its most magnificent trees are the Brazil-nut trees that commonly grow to a height of over 30 meters and can live up to 500 years. “After the forest fire” is inspired by the form of Brazilian nuts’ shell. To make a reference to burning their home forest I made them all blackened as they were in the fire.
L = 19cm - 29cm, stoneware, coiling
Algae Bloom
Water in good conditions contains a number of microorganism species living in a balanced equilibrium. However, as a result of environmental changes (e.g., increased nutrients like fertilizers runoff, warmer temperature) this balance can be ruined thus making suitable conditions just for one species. It blossoms while others disappear which results in a massive impoverishing of the local environment.
“Algae Bloom” is inspired by that problem. It represents a group of almost identical algal cells all of the same species.
L = 15cm - 17cm, stoneware, coiling
All White - Red Inside Colony
Corals host within their tissues algae that provide them with both food and colours. But as a result of global warming the sea temperature rises and the photosynthetic mechanisms of algae go erratic. So instead of producing molecular oxygen, they start to generate toxic compounds. If they do this to excess, their hosts expel them and the consequence is coral bleaching. If the temperature does not drop, far enough to permit the algae to be readmitted, corals, starved and vulnerable to diseases, eventually die. Since 1980 the amount of coral in the oceans has fallen by between 30% and 50%.
To highlight the idea of the fragility of life, here is one piece in bright colours representing full life and the other all white, with no life. With a big size of the white one I wanted to accentuate the size of damage done to the coral population.
Expelled
With this work I aim to draw public’s attention to the cleansing of sea urchins from beaches to make these places more comfortable for tourists. Every year an immense number of these animals are expelled from their habitat in the vicinity of holiday resorts.
© 2014 XMA - Vladica Sivcev
H= 5cm, stoneware, pinching
H= 5cm, stoneware, pinching
L = 108cm, stoneware, coiling and pinching
L = 42cm, stoneware, coiling and pinching