M.O. Turtlegrass Meadow, 2023

A project by the Meditation Ocean Constellation

Six-channel video installation with ambient score, guided meditations, seating, public programming

67 minutes, looped

For M.O. Turtlegrass Meadow, the premiere iteration of Meditation Ocean, a group of eight divers spent four days in Biscayne National Park in the Florida Keys. Experimenting with notions of buoyancy and what they offer to terrestrial concepts of “grounding” in meditative practice–along with new modes of weightless embodiment—the divers rose from the seabed to float in meditation.

This “underwater meditation retreat” was both a live experience and a video production. The resulting footage, captured with three underwater cameras shooting in the round, was used to create the exhibition Meditation Ocean, curated by Jennifer Lange, on view at the Wexner Center for the Arts from February–July 2023.

A series of programs, workshops, and events developed with Dionne Custer Edwards and the Department of Learning & Public Practice accompanied the exhibition. There was also close work with Art & Resilience at the Wex and its incredible student leaders. Additional engagements involve The Ohio State University's Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center and the Schiermeier Olentangy River Wetlands Research Park.

A gallery guide features texts by Anaïs Duplan, Hope Ginsburg, Melody Jue, and Jennifer Lange. A Climate Impact Report with Artists Commit is in progress for the Wexner Center exhibition. Read about Meditation Ocean in Artforum.

Installation photos by Stephen Takacs. All other images are video stills. Trailer credits appear on the Vimeo page.