We are psyched to share that a selection of our Natural History films will screen on ATP TV during this upcoming weekend’s All Tomorrow’s Parties festival as curated by Animal Collective, in Minehead, UK. This will be the first international exhibition of our physical work; read more about the festival here.
‘Man O War’
Physalia physalis
Film + Aquarium: Morphologic
Original Soundtrack: Geologist
In this special installment of our Natural History film series, Geologist soundtracks a macroscopic view of a Portuguese man-o-war’s beautiful, yet highly venomous tentacles.
The man-o-war is often mistaken as a jellyfish, but this is not the case. It does not swim, but is instead propelled by the winds, tides and currents across the ocean’s surface. In fact, a man-o-war is not even a single organism, but an entire colony of organisms called siphonophores, that live together as a singular unit. They are found floating across all of the world’s tropical and subtropical oceans. Even more impressive is that the man-o-war colony is comprised of four different types of polyps, called zooids, that each serve a different purpose to the overall functioning of the colony.
Above is a fresh video for ANR‘s ambient track ‘Dead Gulf’, which appeared as the B-Side of our ‘Big Problem’ 7″ on Discosoma Records this past January. The song soundscapes a remixed clip of our ‘Corynactis viridis‘ Natural History film from last year. Video artist Jamie Harley reworks the original clip, effectively transforming the 8mm corallimorph polyp into a anthropomorphic troubadour.
This Saturday, March 23rd is the seventh edition of the Borscht Film Festival. The lineup of awesome talent is nuts; Jillian Mayer collaborating w/ Uncle Luke + Rakontur, Barry Jenkins, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Jorge Rubiera, Andrew Hevia, etc.
Look out for a Morphologic collaboration in the Lucas Leyva-directed short film ‘The Tragic Heptology’, also featuring Rosie Herrera and ANR. In addition, we will be proudly premiering the 24th installment of our Natural History film series, ‘Man O War’, a collaborative film with Geologist of Animal Collective. Free admission at the Knight Concert Hall, Arsht Center, Downtown Miami | 7:30 PM, Saturday, March 23.
‘Cassiopeia’ | 407 Building | Lincoln Road | Miami Beach – Dec. 2-5, 2010
From December 2-5, we presented Artificial Reef, a series of large-scale video projections of corals, on three prominent buildings on Miami Beach. The concept of Artificial Reef was built around the premise that most of Miami’s infrastructure is comprised of fossilized coral reef limestone. The purpose of the project, (funded with a generous grant from the Knight Foundation) was to highlight this overlooked relationship of the city of Miami with its coral reefs. Our goal was to recolonize the city with a ‘living veneer’ of corals encrusted onto the artificial reef that is Miami Beach.
We are infinitely excited to announce our first public art project: Artificial Reef, a nightly projection series showcasing local coral reef-life in massive scale on prominent buildings across Miami Beach from December second to the fifth. The concrete used in constructing these buildings is largely composed of the pulverized fossils of coral and marine life that once colonized South Florida when submerged in millennia past. The Artificial Reef projections will “encrust” and “colonize” the Wolfsonian Museum, the 407 Building, and the Art Deco Welcome Center facades like rocks of the reef. Artificial Reef has been made possible by a generous grant from the Knight Foundation.
During the week/end we will have an accompanying solo show of of our multi-media works at the Art Deco Welcome Center. Video loops, photography and projections will be shown. The opening reception for Artificial Reef will take place at the Art Deco Welcome Center on Friday, December 3rd from 8PM – 12AM. We are additionally psyched to host special live “soundscape” performances by ANR and Sumsun during the reception, with an accompanying collage of our Natural History films curated and affected by video artist Jamie Harley. The video collaboration will be projected onto the bands as they perform. We will have complimentary Prestige beer at the reception.
‘The Squat Urchin Shrimp’
Gnathophylloides mineri on Tripneustes ventricosus
Music, Video, and Aquarium
2010 Morphologic Studios
The Squat Urchin Shrimp (Gnathophylloides mineri) is an amazingly successful creature that can be found living amongst the spines of sea urchins throughout most of the world’s shallow tropical waters. In the Caribbean they hitchhike exclusively upon the black and white West Indian Sea Egg (Tripneustes ventricosus), traveling along where ever its host may go. The squat urchin shrimp is very small, reaching no more than 6mm in length, and orients itself parallel with the spines making it all but invisible and protected from a would-be-predator. Often colonies of up to half a dozen squat urchin shrimp of varying sizes will all share the same urchin. Beyond its circumtropical distribution and perfect camouflage, the squat urchin shrimp further demonstrates its successfulness by feeding upon the epidermal tissue of the very spines that grant it protection. This is a relatively benign form of parasitism that doesn’t seem to bother the urchin. These shrimp will also feed opportunistically upon detritus that the urchin picks up as it moves along the sea floor. The squat urchin shrimp is a creature that has found a near perfect niche in a truly self-sustaining, self-contained world of spines.
