Uncharted 95

 

Size: 4.4m x 0.53m
Media: Collage, graphite pencil, acrylic paint

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This piece shows the percentage of the ocean that has been explored by people.
When doing research on the evolution of the octopus, I was surprised to learn that only 5% of the world’s oceans have been fully explored. The way that we are taught about the ocean as children in school, and the sheer abundance of marine life we have already discovered, makes it seem as though we know almost all there is to know about the oceans, when in fact we only know a fraction of what there is to discover. Even space has been explored more than our own oceans.

I chose to use children’s books and encyclopedias to create the collage to give it the quality of a schoolbook or educational poster. I measured out 5% of the full length of the paper (0.22m out of 4.4m) and used this space for the collage. The rest of the paper was airbrushed black to represent the unknown.

The long shape of the piece is reminiscent of a bar graph or a scroll – an ancient way of recording important information. The piece is displayed with the collage on the wall at eye level, with the rest of it spilling out across the floor like a blank scroll that is yet to be filled with information and knowledge. Displaying it this way makes it impossible for the viewer to ignore ‘the unknown’, as they would have to step over or walk around the part of the piece that is on the floor in order to view the collage.