Sea Dab Jig, 2015

Jellyfish are like weeds. Though brainless and boneless, these gelatinous creatures are resilient, adaptable, and great at surviving. Overfishing, climate change, pollution only fuels their spread. In environmental hotspots across the globe, certain species of jellyfish are now destroying other aquatic species, and in the absence of competition are quickly becoming the top predator of our waters. Author Lisa-Ann Gershwin (jellyfish expert and author of Stung! On Jellyfish Blooms and the Future of the Ocean) paraphrases the phenomenon with the pithy phrase “the weeds shall inherit the earth.” The bobbing, stinging, and mesmerizing jellies are invading!

Sea dab is an old Newfoundland term for jellyfish. The installation Sea Dab Jig creates a bloom of fabricated jellyfish invading Museum London. The installation was originally created in 2011 at Newfoundland’s Full Tilt Creative Centre, an artist residency run by Colette Urban.

Part of the Nature's Handmade exhibition at Museum London curated by Cassandra Getty in London, Ontario.

Photos by David Kemp