Under the overarching umbrella of art, the most coveted art that moves is one that pleases, soothes and paints a picture of hope or nostalgia. But what about art that disorients, perturbs? What about art that makes people shift in their seats, perhaps even look away—art that shifts, but in unpreferred, uncomfortable ways? Many artists and designers have, for aeons, used their ‘voice’ to broach critical conversations that are often hushed, overlooked or brushed under the carpet. In the current times, one such muzzled conversation is that of the climate crisis—no more a distant plausibility but an unambiguous reality. Amidst the inaction and dismissal, this vision of a world post-climate collapse is one where people sacrifice themselves to the rising oceans, becoming one with them: ABYSSICIDE — Garments For Drowning In.

Things like the climate crisis are so big that most people not only do not understand it but definitely cannot process it. – Sruli Recht

Garments for drowning in: a narrative of transformation

ABYSSICIDE is a site-specific art installation that includes three suspended humanoid sculptures grown from water, through a biomimetic technique that draws from the process of mineral accretion that corals employ to form their skeleton. This radical vision of the future by Sruli Recht, an artist and designer based in Reykjavík, Iceland and Roland Snooks, Director, RMIT Architecture Tectonic Formation Lab, is achieved through computational design and robotic fabrication. The protagonists press these garments into their skin as they submerge into the sea; with the rise of the ocean levels, the ‘garments for drowning in’ transform layer by layer around the body, into coral-like structures.

First unveiled at Hanover House during the Melbourne Design Week this year, the immersive installation weaves together transformative sculptures, ancient techniques and the rituals and potential renewable materials for the future. “Things like the climate crisis are so big that most people not only do not understand it but definitely cannot process it,” says Recht, in a conversation with STIR. “We aim to tell this story about something that is happening right now in a way that may be too big to understand, just as big as the situation is,” he adds.

Climate collapse: remnants and rituals

The equatorial island communities continue to experience a gradual loss of land mass - an accelerating phenomenon that will soon impact larger continents. On the other hand, the lands and the oceans, along with their biodiversity, suffer relentless deterioration and destruction at the hands of rampant consumerism and industrialisation; a climate collapse appears to be impending. “What we are doing culturally as global activity is killing the oceans, killing the planet. But we don’t have a term yet,” Recht tells STIR. And so the name ABYSSICIDE, a neologism that translates to ‘the killing of the oceans'. “We are trying to talk about the abyss in terms of the ocean, the future of the planet and, of course, we are trying to reference death,” Snooks adds.

ABYSSICIDE:
Noun: The deliberate and anthropogenic destruction or killing of the oceans.
Pronunciation: /əˈbɪs.ɪ.saɪd/

What might the future rituals be of a society post-climate collapse? Will there be a society that returns to rituals such as sacrifice? When all that remains is the boundless ocean, will future resources be redefined?

(Future) Materials, designs, narratives

The material that makes the rather ceremonial sculptures is a concoction of natural processes and digital fabrication. This innovation also expresses the collaborators’ shared inclination towards material experimentation, evident in both of their practices. A singular limestone biomass is grown through the manipulation of electrified seawater and negatively charged surfaces. The material, growing one accreted layer after another, exemplifies slow and renewable creation. Water molecules come together to weave compelling bone-like garments and conductive materials partake with precision, owing to advanced robotics and additive manufacturing. Innovative technology emulates the rhythms of natural processes—in what Snooks calls “a negotiation between the two”—to breathe life into Garments for Drowning In, the ultimate slow fashion.

The project contributes to a larger renewable materials research for coastal communities—where land mass depletes and seawater is to become a ceaseless resource—to cultivate houses in ocean farms. With the ability to morph into limestone, seawater can serve as a sustainable response to climate emergencies. “It (the material innovation) could have been a revolution in architecture, alternative resource manufacture, zero energy materials—I imagine buildings grown right out of the water from a knitted recycled wire suspended from solar and tidal charging pontoons in the middle of a silent ocean,” Recht says. “But no. I wanted to make fragile, devastatingly thin eggshell knives. And prepare rituals for the tidal rise. We are all so fascinated with death, yet so fearful of dying,” he adds.

We are trying to talk about the abyss in terms of the ocean, the future of the planet and, of course, we are trying to reference death. – Roland Snooks

Fabrication/growth, natural/industrial, precision/unknown

The intersection of several processes, from VR modelling, parametric coding, robotic incremental sheet forming, nylon 3D printing and augmented reality fabrication to electroforming for conductive surfacing, culminates in the project. Despite technology being an intrinsic aspect of the design, the forms surrender to the biomimetic principles of coral growth; controlled electrolysis in seawater activates limestone accretion on conductive materials. Calcium and carbonate molecules accumulate on the object turning the water into stone, resulting in a singular limestone biomass and subsequently the intricate sculpture art. “It is the way that something is very precise that we create diligently and then it interacts with a natural process which has an imprecision, an unknown quality. A lot of what we are trying to explore is the tension between the two things,” Snooks explains.

Beauty and horror: an uncertain future

The sculpture installation, in its setting and expression, echoed the very essence of the project’s narrative. There lies an unfamiliar beauty in the sculptural forms, yet the environment embodies a sense of horror and uncertainty. Stepping into a dark room, akin to an abyss, the viewers encounter skeletal entities of sacrifice—the initial response of discomfort or awe entails contemplation and confrontation with a looming crisis.

ABYSSICIDE, presenting garments that evolve with time much like organisms, epitomises slow fashion which, in the ocean, encourages biodiversity. In a vision that addresses time, water, the value of resources, circularity and the commodity lifestyle industry in tandem, one sacrifices the body for the garment and the oceans. The unsaid norm of ravaging ecosystems for the singular ego, transient obsessions and pleasures is replaced with a scenario of offering (a prayer, a sacrifice) to the greater system. In the garments for drowning in, the protagonists break the ruthless cycle of consumption; they surrender themselves to give back, to produce.