This is a guest post from Xandi Kreuzeder. Xandi is one of the founding partners of Skeleton Sea, a creative collective that highlights the devastating effects of pollution and global warming on the world's oceans and marine life, while also establishing educational initiatives aimed at raising environmental awareness.
SKELETON SEA & THE ART OF KEEPING OUR OCEANS CLEAN
As a former professional windsurfer, I feel eternally indebted to our oceans, not only for providing me with a living but also for providing me with an environment that continues to feed my passion for sport and nature. Working today as an artist, it's only natural that the ocean remains my biggest focus point and source of inspiration.
My passion for the ocean is one that has always been shared by two of my fellow artists and surfers, namely Luis de Dios and João Parrinha. Together, we decided to set up a creative collective called Skeleton Sea, which effectively acts as a vehicle for us to communicate our primary message based around the importance of keeping the oceans clean.
The large majority of our sculptures and works of art are constructed using flotsam and jetsam that we retrieve ourselves on our travels. We pride ourselves on the fact that each creation strives to raise its own environmental issue relating to our oceans, and communicates with people in a completely unique and creative way. In that sense, our work could not be positioned any further from the notion of "art for art's sake".
While the broader issues of pollution and global warming continue to grab the headlines on a day-to-day basis, Skeleton Sea works towards attracting more of the general public's attention to the specific environmental threats posed by global warming to our oceans and marine life. It goes without saying that we support the cause and efforts of 350.org wholeheartedly, particularly given the proven link between increasing levels of CO2 in our atmosphere and ocean acidification.
Ultimately, our work aims to attract the attention of people of all ages and demographic profiles, communicating with them in a way that is direct while also encouraging a level of personal interpretation that is not so readily apparent through other channels. The end goal is to spark a debate and engage with people from all walks of life in an active manner. That way, we hope that more people will start to see themselves as a key part of the solution to our environmental predicament.
During the course of the last 12 months, we've been spreading our message across Europe through a number of art exhibitions in major cities including Munich, San Sebastian and Bilbao. We've also set up a number of educational workshops, surf & art camps, as well as photo and film installations aimed at raising awareness.
To find out more about Skeleton Sea and to view selected examples of work, please visit: www.skeletonsea.com