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Posts Tagged ‘Coral Morphologic’

‘Coral City Camera’ Launch Party @ Pérez Art Museum Miami

Tuesday, January 21st, 2020

Join us Thursday, February 6th as we launch the Coral City Camera, our publicly accessible 360-degree livestream of a thriving, urban coral reef premiering at Pérez Art Museum Miami from a floating billboard in Biscayne Bay, produced by Bridge Initiative & Bas Fisher Invitational. Admission is free and open to the public as part of PAMM’s First Free Thursdays series.

In conjunction with the floating livestream, National Geographic Explorer Alizé Carrère will moderate a panel discussion featuring NOAA scientist Dr. Ian Enochs, Coral Morphologic’s Colin Foord, and Miami Beach’s environment & sustainability director Elizabeth Wheaton. The night continues on the terrace with a DJ set by Romulo Del Castillo. See you there, Miami!

‘Coral City Camera’ @ Design Miami/ 2019

Saturday, December 7th, 2019

For Design Miami 2019/, we debuted a preview of the Coral City Camera, a 360° live stream underwater camera located at our collaborative research site with NOAA’s AOML Coral Program. The CCC aims to supplement our urban coral research with real-time scientific data and offer a source of natural wonderment to the public, with the live stream officially going live in February 2020.

The implementation of the Coral City Camera is made possible with the support of Bas Fisher Invitational & the Bridge Initiative under National Endowment for the Arts & Knight Foundation grants.

Installation of the ‘Coral City Camera’

Tuesday, November 12th, 2019

Over the past several years we’ve been working toward the installation of an underwater camera in Biscayne Bay as a component of our research into Miami’s coral ecosystems. Recently, with the support of Bas Fisher Invitational & Bridge Initiative under National Endowment for the Arts & Knight Foundation grants, we installed a 360° live stream underwater camera at our collaborative research site with NOAA’s AOML Coral Program. In addition to providing valuable scientific data, the live stream will be available free to the public as an educational tool and source of wonderment. The Coral City Camera live stream will be officially available to watch in February, with a preview at Design Miami/ December 3-8. Check out the video above to see how the camera was installed with View Into the Blue.

Coral Morphologic @ adidas Flagship Store London

Saturday, October 26th, 2019

We are happy to report the new adidas flagship store in London features a Coral Morphologic video installation. Follow this link for the adidas_LDN location on Oxford Street and watch a tour of the store here.

‘Tangerine Reef’ @ Grand Gerrard Theater Toronto

Friday, August 16th, 2019

Tangerine Reef, our audiovisual collaboration with Animal Collective, will have its first official screening in Canada on Friday, August 30th at the historic Grand Gerrard Theater in Toronto. Tickets are available here.

Instagram Mini-Documentary on Coral Morphologic

Saturday, July 13th, 2019

We are thrilled to share a mini-documentary Instagram produced on our work. Watch above or via the app.

FLOOD 10 – The Sustainability Issue

Tuesday, June 25th, 2019

Pick up the 10th issue of FLOOD Magazine featuring a cover story on Animal Collective wherein they detail their history and our collaboration Tangerine Reef. Read the article here.

‘An Evening with Coral Morphologic’ @ Tower Theater Miami

Wednesday, April 17th, 2019

We are thrilled to share we’ll be curating ‘An Evening with Coral Morphologic‘ at the historic Tower Theater Miami on April 30th. In addition to inaugurating Tower’s new lobby projection system with a CM audiovisual installation, we’ll be showing a film program in the theater consisting of Miami’s first official Tangerine Reef screening, John McSwain’s CM documentary Coral City, and a Q & A session with CM, McSwain, and Brian Weitz of Animal Collective moderated by Miami-based writer and photographer Monica Uszerowicz.

The event is free and open to the public but we kindly ask patrons to RSVP at this link. The audiovisual installation/ happy hour runs 5-7pm, and the film program/ Q & A runs 7-9pm. We will have a version of the poster above for sale at the event, designed by Rob Carmichael of SEEN Studio.

Update 5/1/19: Our audiovisual installation in the theater’s lobby will run till early December – if you are in the area feel free to stop in and check it out.

‘Space Tapes Compilation, Vol. 2’

Friday, April 12th, 2019

We’re psyched to share a soundtrack of ours (‘Oolite’) is included on the second Space Tapes compilation. The album features artists based in or from Florida. Stream Space Tapes, Vol. 2 via Spotify and pick up the album in digital and vinyl editions @ https://spacetapesmia.bandcamp.com/album/space-tapes-vol-2-st009

Animal Collective & Coral Morphologic @ CPH:DOX 2019

Monday, March 11th, 2019

Colin will join Animal Collective at CPH:DOX 2019 in Copenhagen, Denmark on Friday, March 22nd for a screening of Tangerine Reef  followed by Q & A, plus live sets from AC’s Geologist and Deakin featuring visuals from us at Aveny-T. See this link for tickets.

Update 4/29/19: Watch the full Q & A below:

Coral Lab Installation @ Alligator Head Foundation

Friday, March 8th, 2019

Coral microfragmentation systems.

Coral Morphologic was recently commissioned to build a high-tech indoor coral microfragmentation and wet lab by the Alligator Head Foundation in Portland, Jamaica. Additionally, a 300 gallon reef biotope was built to serve as an educational display. Over the course of three trips, the Coral Morphologic team coordinated purchasing, exporting, and constructing the AHF Marine Lab where it now serves both the local marine scientists working to protect the Alligator Head Marine Sanctuary, as well as international scientists that can visit and conduct their work with state-of-the-art equipment in a controlled laboratory setting. 

The wet lab.

Coral City Census

Tuesday, December 11th, 2018

On November 27th we embarked on the first field trip with researchers from NOAA and University of Miami for the next phase of Coral Morphologic’s long-term project to document, study, and conserve Miami’s unusually resilient ‘urban corals’. That is, the corals that have pioneered into Miami’s intercoastal waterways as larvae and settled onto man-made infrastructure. It is precisely Miami’s legacy of anthropogenic disturbance that led Coral Morphologic to recognize that the City was a real-world window in which to understand how corals may adapt and evolve to anthropogenic impacts.

Studying genetic variation and the underlying causes of these variations is at the heart of a global effort to identify more resilient coral genotypes capable of restoring degraded coral habitat. Most of this research has focused on traditionally healthy, offshore reef habitats and identifying corals that show more resilience to stress than neighbors, or in experimental lab settings with distinct coral colonies of the same species subjected to stressful conditions. However, our project proposes to sample the tissue of healthy coral colonies (specifically Pseudodiploria strigosa and Porites asteroides) living in less than ideal ‘urban’ conditions, as well as healthy coral living offshore in ‘natural’ conditions, to determine if the genetic variation between sites is significant. The sample sites will also be surveyed and scientifically described by community assessment and seasonal changes through photo mosaics, monitoring of water chemistry, temperature, pH, and light levels, to quantify and compare site conditions. The final phase of this project will involve transplanting corals to the tip of PortMiami from each of the ‘urban’ sites, along with fragments from the offshore, natural reef to compare how each is able to adapt, and eventually developing an ‘urban coral’ nursery to grow the most resilient coral genotypes for restoration of reefs and laboratory research.

But the first task in this year-long study was to characterize each of the study sites through photo-mosaics that create three dimensional maps using a pair of GoPro cameras. These maps will serve as our detailed baseline imagery to better understand the forces of coral recruitment, growth, mortality, competition from macroalgae, and the accumulation of trash/ debris over time. Watch the video above to see each of the three urban coral research sites and the techniques used to document them. We look forward to providing updates over the course of the year as we document the sites, analyze transcriptomes, transplant corals, and characterize range of water quality and chemical conditions that Miami’s urban corals endure.

‘Tangerine Reef Live’ West Coast Theater Tour

Saturday, December 1st, 2018

Following their November 9th performance at Baltimore’s Parkway theater, Animal Collective will embark on a 3-date West Coast tour this December in support of our collaborative audiovisual album Tangerine Reef at two historic movie theaters in California – the Balboa in San Francisco on the 8th & 9th, and the Vista in Los Angeles on the 10th. Tickets are available via links above or in person at the theaters.

Miami New Times’ 2018 People Issue

Wednesday, November 21st, 2018

Catch us in the Miami New Times’ 2018 People Issue. Pick up a print edition on November 22nd or check out the article here.

‘Tangerine Reef’

Friday, August 17th, 2018

Tangerine Reef, our audiovisual collaboration with Animal Collective, is officially live! Watch the full film via AC’s website or direct via YouTube / Vimeo.

Learn more about Tangerine Reef  in interviews with ARTnews, the Washington Post, & Billboard.

Read reviews from PitchforkAllMusic, & PopMatters.

‘On Super Corals and Where to Find Them (A Closer Look at Miami’s Urban Coral Ecosystem)’ – Part 2

Wednesday, August 15th, 2018

Read Part 2 (& Part 1) of our essay on super corals: ‘On Super Corals and Where to Find Them (A Closer Look at Miami’s Urban Coral Ecosystem)’ on Medium or click the link below:

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A Short Trip Through ‘Tangerine Reef’

Thursday, August 2nd, 2018

Dive deeper into the world of Tangerine Reef  before the full audiovisual album is released on August 17th.

Learn about the origins of Tangerine Reef  in interviews with Rolling Stone & the Miami New Times.

‘Tangerine Reef’ Official Trailer & ‘Hair Cutter’ Music Video

Monday, July 16th, 2018

We are psyched to share we’ve teamed with friends & collaborators Animal Collective to create the forthcoming audiovisual album Tangerine Reef in honor of the International Year of the Reef 2018. Watch the official trailer above & view the ‘Hair Cutter‘ music video via Apple Music. Pre-order the album before the August 17th release via the Tangerine Reef website.

Festival of Disruption Retrospective

Tuesday, May 22nd, 2018

Animal+Collective

Avey Tare, Geologist, and Deakin performing Tangerine Reef live.

This past Saturday, Animal Collective and we debuted the live version of Tangerine Reef at David Lynch’s Festival of Disruption. Aquatic sights and sounds enmeshed to immerse the audience of Brooklyn Steel in the extraterrestrial underwater environ of Tangerine Reef.

Thank you to David Lynch for inviting us and the Festival of Disruption team for an amazing production. Stay tuned for the official release of Tangerine Reef this August.

The Tangerine Reef crew: Avey Tare, John McSwain, Deakin, J.D. McKay, Geologist, and Colin Foord.

Check out photosets from the live performance of Tangerine Reef via Brooklyn Vegan & The Line of Best Fit.

Animal Collective & Coral Morphologic @ David Lynch’s Festival of Disruption

Wednesday, May 16th, 2018

This Saturday, May 19th we premiere the live version of Tangerine Reef at David Lynch’s Festival of Disruption. We’ll be offering a limited number of a special lunar phase calendar (seen below) at the show in honor of our audiovisual collaboration with Animal Collective.

‘On Super Corals and Where to Find Them (Or a Cautionary Tale of Using Memes in Science)’ – Part 1

Monday, April 30th, 2018

Read Part 1 of our essay on super corals: ‘On Super Corals and Where to Find Them (Or a Cautionary Tale of Using Memes in Science)’ on Medium or click the link below:

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‘One Strange Rock’

Monday, March 26th, 2018

Tonight is the premiere of One Strange Rockthe National Geographic television series to which we contributed coral & marine life footage. The Darren Aronofsky-produced, Will Smith-hosted 10-part series explores the fragility & wonder of planet Earth from the perspective of eight astronauts who spent time onboard the International Space Station.

“This is the story of Earth, from the only people who have ever left it.”

 Watch the full episode of ‘Alien’, featuring our cinematography contributions:

‘One Strange Rock’ (Trailer)

Thursday, March 1st, 2018

We are psyched to share Coral Morphologic is a contributor of coral & marine life footage to the Darren Aronofsky-produced, Will Smith-hosted National Geographic television series One Strange Rock. Filmed in space & locations across 45 countries, the series explores the fragility & wonder of planet Earth from the perspective of eight astronauts who spent time onboard the International Space Station.

The 10-episode series debuts March 26, 2018; watch the trailer above.

‘Coral Morphologic 1’

Wednesday, February 28th, 2018

We are grateful to present Coral Morphologic 1, an album of nine records inspired by the corals’ cosmic ability to synchronize their lives to Earth’s daily rotation upon its axis, the Moon’s monthly trip around Earth, and Earth’s yearly orbit of the Sun. CM 1 was written, produced, and mixed by Coral Morphologic and mastered by Adam McDaniel at Drop of Sun Studios, Asheville NC. The album features artwork by Robert Beatty, and the ‘Poster Edition’ of the album includes an 18″ x 24″ poster version of the album art, while the ‘Print Edition’ includes a set of nine 5″ x 5″ Coral Morphologic photographs representing each track on the album. Stream CM 1 via Spotify and pick up the album in digital and poster / print editions @ https://coralmorphologic.bandcamp.com/album/coral-morphologic-1

Update 2/14/22Coral Morphologic 1 is now available in physical formats (vinyl / CD / cassette) from Miami’s Terrestrial Funk. The vinyl LP includes a foldout poster featuring artwork by Robert Beatty. Pick up a copy @ https://terrestrialfunk.com/products/coral-morphologic-coral-morphologic-1-tf008

adidas X Parley X Coral Morphologic @ 747 Warehouse St

Wednesday, February 21st, 2018

During the 2018 NBA All-Star weekend, adidas held a two-day celebration of basketball culture at ROW DTLA in Los Angeles. The event, called 747 Warehouse St, brought together creators from the worlds of sports, music, fashion and design. To represent the oceans and rally new champions for the cause, Parley created an adidas X Parley X Coral Morphologic experience focused on the beauty and fragility of the oceans, featuring a CM video installation aimed at generating environmental awareness. Watch a highlight video from the event below.

International Year of the Reef

Monday, January 1st, 2018

2018 is the International Year of the Reef, a world-wide initiative enacted by the ICRI to strengthen awareness globally about the value of, and threats to, coral reefs. Learn more about #IYOR2018 with an immersive Google Earth Voyager Story.

‘2317’

Monday, December 4th, 2017

Catch our new audiovisual piece 2317 projection-mapped onto the facade of the Faena Forum during Miami Art Week 2017, as part of the ‘Ediacaran Mind’ exhibition. 2317 is visible nightly starting at sundown & shows Monday, December 4th – Saturday, December 9th.

Miami Beach Staghorn Coral Survey – Pre & Post-Hurricane Irma

Wednesday, November 15th, 2017

One of the last tasks we took on before securing our laboratory prior to Hurricane Irma was check on the health of a community of endangered staghorn corals (Acropora cervicornis) just offshore Miami Beach. This community is one of the few remaining nearshore populations of these corals in Florida, and has proven to be more resilient than populations further south in Biscayne National Park, which have suffered from diseases in recent years. Because these staghorn corals along Miami Beach are growing on flat, hard seafloor, we knew that they were going to be subjected to significant wave energy during Hurricane Irma.

When we finally had a chance to survey the damage this past week, we sadly found that most of the staghorn colonies had been smashed to bits. Fortunately, many of the broken pieces of coral survived the maelstrom and have already begun cementing themselves back down to the sea floor and developing healthy new growth tips. While hurricanes can be exceptionally damaging to coral reefs, asexual fragmentation of corals due to these storms is also an important way they can colonize large areas of substrate. As unfortunate as it is to see this damage, based on what we observed post-hurricane offshore Miami Beach, we can expect new colonies to form, and thickets of these endangered corals will return once again.

‘Coral Lords’

Friday, July 21st, 2017

We are psyched to share that Colin provided the spoken word intro to the song ‘Coral Lords’ from Animal Collective member Avey Tare‘s beautiful new album, Eucalyptus. The passage reads:

“Corals were the first timekeepers of Planet Earth. For more than half a billion years, their internal clocks have been synchronized with the sun and the moon. However, it would take life several hundred million years of further evolution before finally crawling out of from beneath the liquid lens of the ocean and into the open air where it would develop the consciousness necessary to ask the question, then the intelligence needed to invent the technology to empirically measure its objective reality. Thus, the purpose of life is to quantify the nature of the cosmos itself. The development of symbiosis between coral and humankind appears as a harbinger for the final stages of life on earth. Our ouroboros is nearly complete.”

‘Signs of Life’

Friday, June 30th, 2017

Coral Morphologic makes a cameo in the new Arcade Fire music video, ‘Signs of Life.’ The vid follows two paranormal investigators through the weird world(s) of South Florida.