Playa Blanca’s newest tourist attraction began to be installed at the end of January, as some of the concrete sculptures created by Jason de Caires Taylor were lowered into position in the underwater museum or Museo Atlantico, as it will be known. The artist has used extremely topical themes for some of the statues, depicting refugees on an overcrowded dinghy, similar to those that sank near the Italian island of Lampedusa during the height of the crisis last summer.
Other depictions include people taking selfies or glued to their electronic devices, as the artist uses this particular underwater project to comment on everyday life within the context of the changing environment. The idea being, that over time the statuary will become home to sea life although the cooler waters of the Atlantic around Lanzarote won’t lead to the growth of any coral reefs as they have done elsewhere.
Previous projects, such as Vicissitudes, his first work just off the coast of Grenada in the Caribbean already demonstrate how successful this type of endeavour can be at creating new ocean habitats. While most of the installations that have been completed are in the warmer waters surrounding the Bahamas and Mexico, de Caires Taylor is also responsible for the four horsemen statues that were placed in the river Thames and only become visible at low tide.
The Museo Atlantico will act as a marine park, giving scuba divers a new focal point during their dives. Along with the figures depicting people going about their everyday lives, there will also be an underwater fountain, lighting and an unusual submersed mirror creating the illusion of a swimming pool in the sea. Its location is close the Marina Rubicon, on the eastern side of Playa Blanca.
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