Ghost Reef I, 2025
Composite sand print and luminescent paint finishes, 226 × 120 × 90 cm
Ghost Reef I, 2025.
Composite sand print and luminescent paint finishes,
226 x 120 x 90 cm. Photography © Oak Taylor-Smith.
Ghost Reef I, 2025.
Composite sand print and luminescent paint finishes,
226 x 120 x 90 cm. Photography © Oak Taylor-Smith.
Shezad Dawood worked with AI technology to envision Ghost Reef, a reef system composed of twenty-one unique branching coral sculptures. For this project, Dawood shines a light on the Acropora genus. Once the dominant form of coral throughout Florida and the Caribbean, Acropora has declined in most areas by as much as 90–95%. The unique sculptures forming Ghost Reef will be presented in various iterations across multiple international venues and destinations. The project aims to raise awareness about the critical importance of coral preservation and restoration, in collaboration with a global network of NGO partners, research groups, and cultural institutions.
Each element of Ghost Reef is individual and uniquely activated through programming that replicates the natural growth patterns of Acropora species from the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. Through these patterns each sculptural element is at the same time part of an abstract larger coral system, a wider liminal ecosystem of which it forms an intrinsic part.
Acropora Downingi is a crucial, reef-building coral species, characterised by its large colonies resembling staggered and irregular tables. The branches of this coral variety strongly converge at the colony's centre, curving slightly upwards at the edges. Occurring naturally in the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean, this species has faced increasing threats to its survival in recent decades, primarily attributed to the impacts of climate change. The rise in sea temperatures has led to coral bleaching and disease, posing significant threats to Acropora colonies and other coral species in the region. For Ghost Reef, the artist collaborated with 3D modeller, Irene Gaumé (Factum Arte), where they experimented with programming to simulate natural Acropora growth patterns according to an innovative AI pathway. This allowed the artist’s intention to fuse with machine learning, while also referring to the continuum of geometry between the natural world and technology. Through these simulated patterns, each sculptural element of the intended series becomes at the same time part of a speculative larger coral system: a fragment of a wider liminal structure of which it forms an intrinsic part.
Ghost Reef I, 2025.
Composite sand print and luminescent paint finishes,
226 x 120 x 90 cm. Photography © Oak Taylor-Smith.
Ghost Reef I, 2025.
Composite sand print and luminescent paint finishes,
226 x 120 x 90 cm. Photography © Oak Taylor-Smith.