Building upon on an initial pilot event, held at the Society and Sea Conference in Greenwich, UK, 2018, and focussing on 5 of the 17 SDGs including SDG13: Climate Action and SDG14: Life below Water, this iteration of Catching a Wave is designed specifically to increase awareness and resonance of the SDGs and oceanscapes with multiple audiences through a mixed media approach of glass fusion, photogrammetry, and audio interaction. During the first iteration a number of portable hand-sized waves were distributed amongst the workshop participants to hold whilst talking. It emphasised the idea that we want to foster a connection between humans and ocean by embedding the mini waves, these physical artefacts, out into the communities through individuals who take them with them in their pockets, back packs, purses, in the same way that we take the ocean with us in the air that we breathe. We are making that connection visible and tactile. Driven by the conceptual, aesthetic and technical potential of creating a wave which would function as a physical artefact of a frozen moment in time, Catching a Wave juxtaposes the beauty of a glass wave with installation in a man-made environment to create a sense of reinvention and reconnection. The work will highlight geophysical, ecological, philosophical, cultural, and emotional connections via lighting, sound, as well as text and imagery embedded in the glass waves.

Catching a Wave installations are flexible and can be reimagined depending on space and audience. Each wave “subject” is captured in great detail through being photographed from multiple angles, capturing as many of surfaces as possible. GPS devices installed in cameras increase the accuracy and can be used to geo-rectify the model for use in geographic information systems. Software is used to reconstruct the location of the photographs and to match the common points in each picture. The resulting digital output is then printed to create 3D models which are then used as patterns for the glass moulds.  Images and text relating to ocean health are embedding into the glass waves fusing them so that they fold into the wave but are still readable through the polished sides of the wave.

With each iteration of Catching a Wave demonstrates erudition across social, ecological, and physical aspects of the oceans while providing space for both cultural identify and innovation. The project ultimately aims to continually evolve through both research and audience engagement. Catching a Wave is determined to develop networks of people who are invested and interested and/or would like participate in art-science collaborations. These points of connection will help challenge the ideas generated by this project ensuring continual learning and knowledge exchange as well as disseminate the concepts into new communities. The project team is committed to devolving the skills needed to develop integrated art and science projects while inspiring individuals, communities, politicians, and decision-makers to embrace possible and locally contextually relevant catalysts for change.