Watch the full Projections of a Coral City program above.

The sun has set on Projections of a Coral City, our largest installation to date, and we are thankful for everyone who made this monumental work possible. From the Knight Foundation’s continued support of our mission, to the collaborative spirit of the Arsht Center, to the hundreds of thousands of people who witnessed this installation: we are eternally grateful.

Projections of a Coral City was the 15-year culmination of our goal to create a new mythology for the city of Miami — one that tells the story of past, present, and future sea-level rise and fall and the ouroboros of architectural development — of the ancient coral reef tract’s calcium carbonate structures and its re-use millennia later in concrete skyscrapers of present day. We hope that Projections of a Coral City shed light on the sea-level rise projections referenced in the project’s title, and how the City’s buildings and infrastructure might be reclaimed by coral as an artificial reef should humanity not act to prevent and mitigate the effects of climate change, to which Miami is among the most vulnerable cities on Earth.

Special Thanks to the Knight Foundation, whose generous support made POACC possible; the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, who graciously hosted the event; the dream team of creatives that helped us bring POACC to life; and Light Harvest / A3 Visual for the absolutely stunning projection display.

Please see the Projections of a Coral City website for full info and production credits @ https://projectionsofacoralcity.com/

Read coverage of Projections of a Coral City from the Miami Herald.

We are ecstatic to announce Projections of a Coral City, a large-scale projection-mapping installation to be presented on the exterior of the Knight Concert Hall nightly, 6PM-12AM, during Miami Art Week from Tuesday, November 29 through Saturday, December 3, 2022. Projections of a Coral City, featuring macroscopic images of corals native to Miami and from around the world, is a monumental artwork and the largest projection of corals ever presented globally. Projections of a Coral City is made possible through the support of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Miami is a coral city. Built with marine limestone mined from the Everglades, its concrete skyline stands like corals colonizing the fossilized reef ridge on which the city was built. Miami and its maritime environment are inextricably connected geologically, historically, culturally and economically. Engaging residents and visitors with Miami’s coral reefs and waters connects them to the literal foundation of the city and to its future.

The corals featured in Projections of a Coral City were grown on flat tiles and 3D-printed scale models of the Knight Concert Hall over many years in our Miami laboratory, and subsequently photographed and enlarged to envelop the building’s southwest side. These aquacultured corals include the colorful, native Ricordea florida corallimorph. Corallimorphs are an understudied group of soft corals that scientists predict will proliferate in a world where oceans are acidified and stony corals can no longer calcify into reefs. Projections of a Coral City reimagines the Knight Concert Hall’s terraced form designed by architect César Pelli as an ever-morphing coral head and, as the sea-level rise projections referenced in the project’s title portend, suggests how the City’s buildings and infrastructure might be reclaimed by coral as an artificial reef should humanity not act to prevent and mitigate sea-level rise.

An ambient soundscape foreshadowing the City’s future by Coral Morphologic and Nick León will play in tandem with the projections on the Arsht Center’s Thomson Plaza for the Arts on Biscayne Boulevard.

For more information and production credits, please visit the Projections of a Coral City website @ https://projectionsofacoralcity.com/

During the nights of Art Basel Miami Beach our 2009 film reel was displayed on the 80′ X 42′ LED screen on the facade of the American Airlines Arena in downtown Miami as part of the Media Mesh Project. The video compilation was curated by artist George Sanchez-Calderon and featured short films by the following artists: Lou Ann Colodny, Aiden Dillard, Alvaro Ilizarbe (Freegums), Justin Long, Ferran Martin, Coral Morphologic, Gavin Perry, Carlos Rigau, Bert Rodriguez, Damian Rojo, TM Sisters, and Jen Stark.

J.D. McKay (left) and Colin Foord (right) of Coral Morphologic; a self portrait.

During the night of Saturday, December 5th we displayed a video projection at the Art Basel Miami Beach satellite Moksha Art Fair. The subject of the the film was an Entacmea quadricolor sea anemone (right) and its corresponding reflection (left).

Pictured above and below is ‘Version Key’ as installed at the Miami’s Independent Thinkers art show during the days of Art Basel Miami Beach. The aquarium consisted of an eroded cinder block, red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) seedling, and three upside-down jellyfish (Cassiopea xamachana) pulsating on oolitic sand; not an atypical South Floridian assemblage. It was displayed against a silver parachute backdrop on a concrete block pedestal surrounded by oolitic sand.

Cuddle Fish is the creation of Miami contemporary artist Bhakti Baxter. The limited-edition zine, also compiled and printed by Baxter, features images contributed by a collection of his peers. The cover image is a Sepia sp. Cuttlefish that Colin photographed back in 2007 in Tulamben, Bali. You can find this zine in physical form at happenings around Miami during Art Basel Miami Beach 2009.

CORAL MORPHOLOGIC Art Basel Miami Beach 2009 schedule:

American Airlines Arena – Jumbotron Projection

Miami’s Independent Thinkers – Aquarium Installation

The Museo Vault – Aquarium Installation

Moksha Art Fair – Projection

Sweat Records – Aquarium Installation