Colourful crocheted yarn blends with vibrant plastic waste to form Crochet Coral Reef – an ongoing project by sisters Margaret and Christine Wertheim and their Los Angeles–based organisation, The Institute For Figuring.
Now in its tenth year, the sisters are celebrating the anniversary of the project with an exhibition titled 'Crochet Coral Reef: TOXIC SEAS', curated by Samantha De Tillio for New York's Museum of Arts and Design (MAD).
Born in the Wertheim’s living room in 2005, Crochet Coral Reef began as an effort to illustrate the connection between science and art, while also raising awareness for the consequences of global warming on living reefs. Since then, the project has continued to grow — expanding to cities and countries around the world.
The latest iteration brings together three key 'habitats', including a 'Bleached Reef' and a new 'Toxic Reef', representing dying corals. 'The Midden' is another section, constructed from four years’ worth of the Wertheims’ own domestic plastic trash, a response to human-made phenomena such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
'If someone had said at the start that we’d still be crocheting corals ten years later I wouldn’t have believed it, but the project has developed in ways we didn’t expect,' Margaret Wertheim says. 'The biggest surprise has been how much taxonomic variety has emerged as we and our core group of "Reefers" worldwide have played with variations of the original algorithm.'
Using a discovery by Cornell University mathematician Dr Daina Taimina – that hyperbolic surfaces could be modelled via crochet – the Wertheims have developed a range of biological variations on the algorithm that fuse mathematics, biology and craft to produce a diverse array of coralline structures, an 'ever-evolving artificial ecology'.
Born in the Wertheim’s living room in 2005, Crochet Coral Reef began as an effort to illustrate the connection between science and art, while also raising awareness for the consequences of global warming on living reefs
'If someone had said at the start that we’d still be crocheting corals ten years later I wouldn’t have believed it, but the project has developed in ways we didn’t expect,' Margaret Wertheim says
Information
'Crochet Coral Reef: TOXIC SEAS' is on view until 22 January 2017. For more information, visit the MAD website
ADDRESS
MAD
2 Columbus Circle
New York, NY 10019
-
Bocci and Anna Carnick join forces on a showcase of evocative design practices in Berlin'Crafting Community' is on view at Berlin's Wilhelm Hallen until 14 September 2025
-
The story behind a one-of-a-kind Dieter Rams handbag, reborn by German leather brand TsatsasA new exhibition at Vitsœ’s London store celebrates the ‘931’ bag, designed by Dieter Rams for his wife Ingeborg in 1963 and reborn over half a century later in a collaboration between Rams and German leather accessories brand Tsatsas
-
A Miami pied-à-terre channels Art Deco glamour and endless summerInterior designer Olga Malyev reimagines a South of Fifth apartment with bold colour, vintage treasures and a sunlit spirit that captures Miami’s timeless allure
-
Stephen Prina borrows from pop, classical and modern music: now MoMA pays tribute to his performance work‘Stephen Prina: A Lick and a Promise’ recalls the artist, musician, and composer’s performances, and is presented throughout MoMA. Prina tells us more
-
Out of office: the Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekWith the return of back-to-school, it's back to business for the Wallpaper* team, who’ve been making the rounds at fashion pop-ups and pavilion launches. Elsewhere, we’ve been indulging in new literature and old restaurants, and taking in a farewell exhibition at a landmark gallery...
-
Curtains up, Kid Harpoon rethinks the sound of Broadway production ‘Art’He’s crafted hits with Harry Styles and Miley Cyrus; now songwriter and producer Kid Harpoon (aka Tom Hull) tells us about composing the music for the new, all-star Broadway revival of Yasmina Reza’s play ‘Art’
-
Out of office: the Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekHere in the UK, summer seems to be fading fast. Moody skies and showers called for early-autumn rituals for the Wallpaper* team: retreating into the depths of the Tate Modern, slipping into shadowy cocktail bars, and curling up with a good book
-
Richard Prince recontextualises archival advertisements in TexasThe artist unites his ‘Posters’ – based on ads for everything from cat pictures to nudes – at Hetzler, Marfa
-
Out of office: the Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekAnother week, another flurry of events, opening and excursions showcasing the best of culture and entertainment at home and abroad. Catch our editors at Scandi festivals, iconic jazz clubs, and running the length of Manhattan…
-
The best Ruth Asawa exhibition is actually on the streets of San FranciscoThe artist, now the subject of a major retrospective at SFMOMA, designed many public sculptures scattered across the Bay Area – you just have to know where to look
-
Orlando Museum of Art wants to showcase more Latin American and Hispanic artists. Do you fit the bill?The Florida gallery calls for for Hispanic and Latin American artists to submit their work for an ongoing exhibition
