Volume 2, No. 20. October 25, 2002
New Arrivals
It’s
a jelly exhibit!
The New York Aquarium in New York City, New York, announces the arrival of Alien
Stingers, September 26, 2002. Measurements: 4,200 square feet (390 square meters),
19 tanks, eight species of jellies.
Noting that, in the wild, most humans’ contact with jellies is either blobs
on the sand or an alarming tingle on the ankles, the New York Aquarium set out
to present these cnidarians as artistic expressions in nature. The jellies float
in kreisel tanks, the largest a curved kreisel tank weighing 26,620 pounds (12,075
kilograms) and holding more than 2,400 gallons (9085 liters) featuring West
Coast sea nettles. Another 1,500-gallon (5,678-liter) tank holds mastigias jellies
from Palau.
Accompanying the display of jellies are computer interactive graphic displays,
a self-guided tour and six terminals allowing guests to play a marine science
computer game produced for Alien Stingers. The aquarium’s operator, the
Wildlife Conservation Society, also commissioned four artists to create representations
of jellies specifically for blind people and people with visual impairments.
Charles Fambro, a Brooklyn composer, composed a “sound sculpture”
that captures the feel of sea jelly movement. Sculptors Priscilla Deichmann
and Rebecca Fuller built tactile sculptures that replicate the form and texture
of the jellies, and Athena Reich wrote poetry describing interaction with jellies,
anemones and corals.
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