Crochet Coral Reef: Crochet Climate Change

Crochet Coral Reef (2005-present) and the Satellite Reef program are ongoing pieces by sisters Margaret and Christine Wertheim, the reef contributors, and participants. Their socially engaged art piece builds community through collaboration and education. The Institute for Figuring (IFF) is a non-profit organization founded by the sisters and combines education on complex abstract thought with collaborative projects and tactile play. Crochet Coral Reef is broken down into three sections: climate change, plastic trash, and the midden. The main reef, crocheted by the Wertheims and the reef contributors, travels to museums and galleries around the world. The reef is constructed of wool and found plastic trash and objects. 

Crochet Coral Reef brings attention to climate change and its devastating effect on coral reefs. The “reefs” crocheted range from healthy corals to bleached ones. Toxic Reef and Bleached Reef are two of the bleached reef pieces that are a part of the core reef, their dull grey and white wool mixed with trash giving the viewers an empty feeling. With pieces that vary in height from smaller ones that are only a few inches tall to ones that are four feet tall, the crochet environment encompasses viewers and really immerses them in the sisters’ environment. 

The Satellite Reef program is where the project’s true community engagement lies. Institutions partner with IFF to construct crochet coral reefs of their own. With the help of volunteers the project takes anywhere from 6-12 months to complete. Over ten thousand people have participated in this project so far. Unlike the core reef, the satellite reef stays local to where it was constructed, so there are reefs all over the world. Participants learn the pedagogical tool of crochet through workshops, lectures, and tactile play. IFF’s education system is, in the words of Margaret, “Kindergarten for grown-ups.” The “students” learn not only how to make the reef but the complex science and math behind it. 

Bleached Reef (foreground), with Toxic Reef and Helen Bernasconi’s Hyperbolic Sea Snake (hanging from the ceiling), at the 2019 Venice Biennale. Photo © Institute For Figuring 

This project blends art, science, and math. Coral is a prime example of hyperbolic geometry and crochet is one of the very few ways mathematicians know how to show hyperbolic space physically. Dr. Dania Taimina made this discovery in 1993, the more significant because it was a traditionally domestic feminine artform that proved that this kind of space is possible. Taimina’s discovery showed that mathematicians who for centuries resisted believing in this non-Euclidean space of hyperbolic geometry were wrong. The Wertheims’ project collaborators are mostly female because of the enduring associations of crochet. Not only does their work show abstract ideas but it highlights female work.  

Crochet Coral Reef is not just an art piece, as it serves as a representation of the coral reefs which will disappear entirely if we do not take action to preserve them. Their work encompasses feminist thought, community engagement, abstract science and math, and warnings about climate change. Since the piece travels from continent to continent those who have never seen coral reefs in person still are able to build a connection with them while raising their awareness of the pressing issues of coral bleaching. As this crochet reef continues to increase so do the ocean temperatures which leads to mass bleaching of actual coral. The mentality of ‘out of sight out of mind’ but that kind of thinking is detrimental when it comes to climate change. The Wertheims’ focus on climate change and plastic waste in the ocean creates a dialogue between the viewer and the piece. Their pedagogy is stitched into every piece and diagram so viewers are not only looking at the piece but learning from it. The sisters have truly created something unique: not only are the reefs stunning but they are raising awareness about the danger corals are in all around the world.

A sad thought is that perhaps these wooly reef environments will be the only ones we’ll have left. 

(JC)

Top image: Coral Forest at the Museum of Arts and Design (NYC). Photo by Jenna Bascom for MAD.

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