Amazing underwater sculptures by jason de kyre taylor. jason taylor's atlantis jason taylor sculptures underwater

Underwater sculptures by Jason Taylor

vicissitudes of fate
American sculptor Jason Taylor this is one of the few artists who managed to combine the completely incompatible. He managed to combine his talents as a sculptor, ceramic artist and diving instructor in one art project called Silent Evolution. Thus, the "Park of underwater sculptures" was created.






The main idea of ​​the project is to eliminate the negative impact of tourists on the natural development of coral reefs. Taylor creates an artificial environment to restore and support coral development. After the completion of the work of engineers, biologists and builders, marine inhabitants took up sculptures, which began to intensively populate the mysterious city created by man.





To create the park, Taylor chose a coral reef, which is located in the waters of the West Indies, off the coast of Mexico. Underwater sculptures are located at a depth of 9 - 10 meters. They can be easily accessed by scuba gear or viewed from a glass bottom boat without submersion.





The material used to create the underwater sculptures was specially selected to make it easier for marine life to develop. The design, shape, texture, and chemistry of Jason's figures are conducive to the reproduction and growth of embryonic corals. The specially thought-out voids in the sculptures are places for shelter and their peaceful development.

Sculpture overgrown with coral
Under water, these figures seem visually much closer and larger. And the glare on the sculptures, created due to the refraction of sunlight, gives them a certain mystery and mystery. Four hundred figures of young people and old people, women and men, ancient and modern. This extraordinary underwater sculpture park shows the changing social and physical make-up of a generation of people from the archaic Mayan civilization to today's cosmopolitan society.




Close your eyes and imagine the most perfect place on the planet. After all, everyone has their own ideal place. For some, this is a tropical island: sun, waves, yellow sand, bananas, coconuts... For someone, the ideal place is his father's house. What is the ideal place for sound engineers? The strangest eccentrics who have everything completely different from people?

Sculptor Jason Taylor created his ideal world... underwater! He is the creator of amazing underwater compositions, which tourists from all over the world come to admire.

Art begins to capture more and more new areas and locations. If earlier everything was limited to the walls of caves - as far as the hands reached, they created there, then with the development of mankind and technology, there are much more opportunities to express themselves, leave their mark on the planet, imprint, make a piece of beauty.

So, what is the ideal place for a person with a sound vector - "things in themselves", a person rushing into the mysterious depths of the unknown? A person who clearly draws a parallel between the inner and outer world, the world on this and that side of the eardrum?

The soundman is born and receives his first injuries. The world, so loud and polyphonic, so annoying and always trying to shake a person with a sound vector out of his cozy quiet shell, now and then beats on the most painful - on the sensitive ears of a sound engineer - the main organ through which this same eccentric cognizes the world and himself. You cannot see with the eyes of God. It can only be heard, felt - which is what the sound engineer has been doing all his conscious life.

If you have a sound vector, then you obviously remember how you hid from everyone in a dark closet or in a closet, or in some other secluded place where you can sit for hours and think-think-think. The perfect place for a sound engineer - a place devoid of loud sounds and people. And the mysterious depths of the ocean with their mute inhabitants - why not the same ideal world?

So, obviously, Jason Taylor also thought - a sculptor who has anal and skin vectors from below and sound and visual from above. As a person with an anal and visual vector, Jason Taylor became a sculptor, because culture and everything connected with it is the native element for such people, the creators of science and art. In 1998 he graduated from Camberwell College of Art, University of the Arts London, Sculpture and Ceramics. In addition to art, Jason Taylor also had another passion - the ocean and its mysterious depths. That is why he became a certified diving instructor.

It is worth noting that diving often becomes a favorite pastime for people with a sound-visual connection. After all, just think how wonderful the underwater world is! It fascinates with its play of color and light, wonderful plants and creatures, so alien to the land world. There is scope for true connoisseurs of beauty - people with a visual vector. On the other hand, as I said above, the underwater world attracts sound engineers with its mystery, ignorance, desertedness, and, finally, silence. It is worth putting on a mask, diving - and you already seem to find yourself on an alien planet, where the laws of upright walkers do not apply. Where everything is different and you even move in a different way - either you are swimming, or you are flying, or you are plunging into the web of the unconscious ... In addition, there is direct stimulation of the eardrum by pressure drops.

So, Jason Taylor was a sculptor and a diving instructor, and as a person, certainly talented and gifted with the light of genius, he came to the most obvious and most logical decision for himself: he simply combined his two most important passions, thereby gaining realization for all of its vectors. It would seem, what could be simpler and at the same time more ingenious?

Jason Taylor began to create where only a few had tried to meddle before. And despite the fact that he had predecessors who placed sculptures on the bottom of the sea, Taylor's idea is distinguished by novelty and originality.

Let's start with the fact that all the sculptures, which are the fruit of the golden hands of a brilliant master, are created from special materials that are completely harmless to the inhabitants of the ocean. Jason Taylor, who is visually advocating for the environment, creates sculptures that will not only please the human eye, but also become a new home for the inhabitants of an ideal deep-sea world. In some works, holes have been made where corals can grow, other sculptures seem to be made of twigs, between which the inhabitants of the ocean can find a roof over their heads.

The main task that the sculptor sets for himself is to fit his work into the world of underwater depths to the maximum. Unlike his predecessors, Jason Taylor doesn't struggle to have his artwork and compositions cleaned every year of algae, starfish and more. On the contrary, he makes every effort so that his creations become an organic part of underwater world. This presentation has a special philosophical connotation: the artist wants to show how short the age of man, the age of civilization, and how endless nature is, which gives birth to life where everything is dead, gives birth to something from nothing. And at the same time, the sculptor wants to show how beautiful human life is in harmony with nature.

What are Jason Taylor's sculptures? These are, first of all, compositions, the center of which is a person and human activity in all its manifestations. Each composition is unique in its own way and carries a special meaning, smoothly echoing the author's sound-visual ideas about the world.

So, for example, the Alternation project represents children of different nationalities standing in a circle and holding hands tightly. This composition undoubtedly symbolizes the human world - the kinship of all peoples on Earth. Man is man's brother. An interesting detail worth paying attention to is that the children stand with their backs relative to the circle and each other. Their gaze is directed outward - into the depths of the ocean, as if they are protecting this very circle, symbolizing the world, so fragile and valuable, from some external threat.

Another well-known, lowered to the bottom of the sea, Taylor's sculpture is called "Dream Collector". We see a lonely man at the table, thinking over his notes about something important. A dog is sleeping peacefully nearby - best friend and comforter. Undoubtedly, we see a portrait of an anal soundman, secluded in his thoughts and dreams. What is he thinking about? What does he write about? There are many bottles in the table of our hero, in which messages from all over the world are sealed. Those very dreams and dreams of people like him. Perhaps, here at the bottom of the sea, these same messages will reach the addressee?

All the characters of Jason Taylor somehow reflect his own view of the world. These are lonely dreamers who, in spite of everything, live in harmony with the universe and their "I". This is the Gardener of Hope, serenely waiting for outlandish corals and algae to grow in her pots. This is the Lost Correspondent, frozen in anticipation of inspiration. And the Cyclist, who is carried away into the distance along the road of knowledge, and many, many others.

The crowning achievement of Taylor's this moment is the Silent Evolution Underwater Sculpture Park, which has become a landmark of the city of Cancun in Mexico. “Silent evolution” is people again, many people of different ages, genders, cultures, beliefs and even eras. This Park is a panorama of the change of mankind from primitive tribes to modern society. Poor and rich, suffering and rejoicing, chatting affably and looking up with inspiration - this is our collective portrait. Here, a happily smiling girl froze in anticipation of life, so many-sided and different, which is about to plunge her into her colorful whirlpool. Here is a woman expecting a child - a man of the future, who, undoubtedly, one day will be on a par with this motley crowd, united, in spite of everything, by common aspirations and hopes.

American sculptor Jason Taylor this is one of the few artists who managed to combine the completely incompatible. He managed to combine his talents as a sculptor, ceramic artist and diving instructor in one art project called Silent Evolution. Thus, the "Park of underwater sculptures" was created.


The main idea of ​​the project is to eliminate the negative impact of tourists on the natural development of coral reefs. Taylor creates an artificial environment to restore and support coral development. After the completion of the work of engineers, biologists and builders, marine inhabitants took up sculptures, which began to intensively populate the mysterious city created by man.

To create the park, Taylor chose a coral reef, which is located in the waters of the West Indies, off the coast of Mexico. Underwater are at a depth of 9 - 10 meters. They can be easily accessed by scuba gear or viewed from a glass bottom boat without submersion.

The material used to create the underwater sculptures was specially selected to make it easier for marine life to develop. The shape, texture, and chemical composition of Jason's figures encourage the reproduction and growth of embryonic corals. The specially thought-out voids in the sculptures are places for shelter and their peaceful development.

Under water, these figures seem visually much closer and larger. And the glare on the sculptures, created due to the refraction of sunlight, gives them a certain mystery and mystery. Four hundred figures of young people and old people, women and men, ancient and modern. This extraordinary underwater sculpture park shows the changing social and physical make-up of a generation of people from the archaic Mayan civilization to today's cosmopolitan society.

The local residents of Grenada served as models for Taylor's creations. At the beginning, the author of the works made casts of body parts from plaster, and then connected the finished parts of the figures cast from concrete and created a single composition with the help of a steel cable. In this way, a composition was created called “Vacuities of Fate”, where children of different nationalities are holding hands in a circle; "Gardener of Hope", which depicts a girl in the garden;

"Gardener of Hope"

"The Lost Correspondent" - a sculpture of a lonely man who sits at a table with a typewriter

"The Lost Correspondent"

and rushing into the unknown "Cyclist".

"Cyclist"

In addition to this underwater sculpture park, Taylor has already completed five underwater projects in different parts of the world. And each idea of ​​the sculptor is exciting and unexpected in its execution. Thanks to his work, he received international recognition and took a place of honor among the creators of modern sculpture.

The ability to make plaster casts of objects and people has given the world thousands of magnificent sculptures and sculptural compositions, characterized by incredible realism and ideal proportions. It was this technique that formed the basis of perhaps the most original and striking art idea in the whole world, which came to the mind of a young American sculptor Jason Taylor. An amazing underwater city, which was built on plaster casts of real people, objects and architectural details, is a masterpiece of modern world art.

Underwater sculptures by Jason deCaire Taylor create a unique and completely anomalous seascape. Emphasizing natural ecological processes, human intervention in natural processes, Taylor's sculptures demonstrate the complex relationship that exists between art and the environment. His works are actually artificial reefs that attract marine life. The main idea of ​​the author was the revival and maintenance of the development of coral reefs. By occasionally diving into the Taylor Figure Park, the viewer can appreciate how quickly the seabed is changing.

Brief biography of the sculptor

Jason de Cairo Taylor is a multifaceted and interesting person. Raised simultaneously in Europe and Asia with his English father and Haitian mother, the boy had a passion for exploration and discovery from early childhood. Much of his childhood was spent exploring the coral reefs of Malaysia, where he developed a deep love for the sea and a fascination with wildlife. This later led him to work for several years as a scuba diving instructor in various parts of the globe, with a keen interest in natural conservation, underwater naturalism and photography.

His connection with the sea remains constant throughout the life of the sculptor. Despite the fact that other areas of his activity were not connected with the ocean. As a teenager, he worked as a graffiti artist in an effort to bring street art to the attention of others.

He graduated from the London Institute of Art in 1998, studying sculpture and ceramics. Later, the future famous sculptor gained experience at Canterbury Cathedral, where he studied stone carving and plaster techniques. With this experience, he acquired the skills he needed to carry out the ambitious underwater projects that made him famous. Later, making plaster casts of people and using cement mortar instead of stone, Jason Taylor began to create separate sculptural compositions at the bottom. caribbean. These ambitious works have a practical functional aspect that promotes interaction between humans and the fragile underwater habitats of flora and fauna.


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Today, Jason de Cairo Taylor has received worldwide recognition for his unique work. More than 1,000 publications have been published about him worldwide, including national geographic, Vogue, USA Today, BBC and CNN. In addition, he was repeatedly invited to television. His international reputation as a talented contemporary artist was finally shaped in May 2006 when he created the world's first underwater sculpture park in Grenada West Indies off the coast of Mexico. It is this work that is considered the crowning achievement of the sculptor.

Famous underwater sculptures and their plaster prototypes

The famous Taylor Underwater Sculpture Park is located at a depth of 9-10 meters, which makes it easy for everyone to scuba dive. Today it favorite place divers and connoisseurs of the marine underwater world. locals they also offer everyone who wants to consider the beauty of Taylor's creations from a boat with a glass bottom. Thanks to the refraction of the sun's rays, everyone who visited this place noted a certain mysticism and mystery, because initially the city of people under water is associated with something mythical and fabulous.

It is interesting that the prototypes of each character of the underwater park were real people are residents of Grenada. Initially, Taylor made unique plaster casts of women and men, children and the elderly, which he later used to create the final models, which were submerged under water. At the same time, the author took into account that the underwater environment is very aggressive and difficult to work with. The object is subject to constant changes, under the influence of water, light, sand and marine life. The cement base and the unique chemical composition of the mixture from which the figures are made actively contribute to the colonization of coral and marine organisms.

Taylor's most famous underwater sculptures have a deep meaning and appeal to the viewer with one message - "Take care of nature!":

"The vicissitudes of fate". The figure depicts a circle of children tied together with their hands. These are life-sized plaster prints taken from a group of children of different ethnic backgrounds. The composition is located at a depth of five meters. This work withstands strong currents and reproduces one of the primary geometric forms, evoking ideas of unity and continuum. Children are by nature adaptive to their environment. The use of children's images in the work emphasizes the importance of creating a sustainable and well-managed environment - a space for the life of future generations. Taylor notes that about forty percent of the world's coral reefs have been destroyed, and that figure is set to rise. His work reminds us that the marine environment is in constant flux, and this in turn reflects the acute vicissitudes of changing landscapes and our own lives.


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"The Lost Correspondent". The Lost Correspondent depicts a man sitting at a desk with a typewriter. The table is covered with a collection of newspaper articles and clippings that date back to the 1970s. Many of them have political significance and reflect the period of Grenada's conflict with Cuba in the period immediately preceding the revolution. The work informs about the rapid changes in communication between generations. Assuming the form of a traditional correspondent, the lone figure becomes nothing more than a relic, a fossil in a lost world.


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"Gardener of Hope". The sculpture depicts a young girl lying on the patio steps in a garden tending to a variety of potted plants. The potted plants are propagated by live coral cuttings taken from areas of the reef system damaged by storms and human activities. This method, a well-established reef conservation procedure, salvages damaged coral fragments by providing a new suitable substrate. Sculpture, a synthesis between art and science, conveys a message of hope and prosperity by portraying human intervention in nature as positive and rejuvenating. The young girl symbolizes a new, renewed kinship with the environment, a role model for future generations. The interaction between inanimate and living forms highlights a potential symbiotic relationship with the life systems of the underwater world. Over the past few decades, we have lost over 40% of our natural coral reefs. Scientists predict the final death of 80% of the remaining structures by 2050. The Gardener of Hope aims to focus attention on this important, often overlooked, environmental issue. The sculpture is based on specialized habitats designed for the life of certain species of marine creatures, such as moray eels, young fish and lobsters.


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"The Archive of Lost Desires". The Archive of Lost Desires features an underwater archive run by a male registrar. The archive contains hundreds of messages in bottles, united by the natural forces of the ocean. The registrar collects individual bottles and categorizes the contents according to the nature of each message - fear, hope, loss or dream. The sculpture is located within the territory of the national marine park, which was previously damaged by hurricanes and tropical storms. The choice of location is aimed at attracting a large number of visitors to a region remote from other parts of the pristine reef, allowing it to develop naturally.


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The oceans are teeming with microscopic organisms that are constantly drifting down to the sea floor, attaching and colonizing any hard, safe surface, such as patches of rock, along the way, and thus creating the foundation of a natural reef. Coral reefs attract a variety of marine life (such as colorful fish, turtles, sea ​​urchins, sponges and sharks) and provide enclosed spaces for sea creatures to breed and hide. Jason de Cairo Taylor is a unique contemporary sculptor who, in addition to popularizing his own work, actively draws public attention to the problem of the death of coral reefs and creates an excellent basis for the formation of new reef sites.

Have you ever wanted to take a walk in a luxurious park, where whole stories told by stone sculptures hover around: someone writes messages, someone relaxes in the garden, some ride bicycles, others lead mysterious round dances ...

Walk among the environment of another world, where everyone lives their own life and shows their story...

Interesting, isn't it? Well, what if you were told that this marvelous sculpture park has found its place in the depths of the water, and you can only see its stone inhabitants by making a trip to the sea world?


The first underwater on the planet that unfolded in Grenada is the answer of inspiration and the fruit of the work of Jason Taylor (Jason de Caires Taylor), who gained his worldwide recognition back in 2006, when the world got acquainted with his unique works.


Taylor's underwater stone sculptures are designed to illustrate, on the one hand, the ecological processes in the marine environment, and on the other hand, to reflect the relationship environment with the art world. His creations undoubtedly convey a message to people that it is important to understand nature and to preserve its delicate world.


All the creations of Jason Taylor were placed in shallow water, which makes it easy to get to the underwater museum with a snorkel, scuba gear, and even taking a walk on a ship, albeit with a glass bottom. Spectators are invited to discover the beauty of the underwater world and appreciate the evolution of the reef itself.


By the way, the process of working with underwater sculptures is very different from the traditional creation of them. For example, underwater stone statues are visually seen more by 25 percent, in addition, there is a color distortion, because water refracts streams of sunlight.