Book launch – Tidalectics: Imagining an Oceanic Worldview Through Art and Science

Inspiring and thought-provoking, Tidalectics reveals the manifold ways in which the ocean affects our lives, and how we affect the ocean and the species living in its waters and on its shores. An indispensable compendium, this book will make you think differently about the sea.

The oceans cover two-thirds of the planet, shaping human history and culture, home to countless species. Yet we often fail to grasp the importance of these vast bodies of water. Tidalectics imagines an oceanic worldview, with essays, research, and artists' projects that present a different way of engaging with our hydrosphere. Tidalectics emerges from the Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary (TBA21)–Academy, the only Western arts organization entirely dedicated to work on climate change and the oceans. The art projects documented in the book form part of an exhibition curated by Stefanie Hessler and include a video of the infinite whites, blues, and grays of Antarctica; a collection of oceanic smells from the Caribbean and Pacific coasts of Costa Rica; and a quartz submersible capsule designed to communicate with cetaceans. Tidalectics provides a unique collection of the strongest voices in oceanic thinking, bridging arts, oceanography, history, law, and environmental studies.

Stefanie Hessler
Stefanie Hessler has helped to develop the non-profit’s cross-disciplinary artistic program, encompassing exhibitions, artist installations, and publications. Hessler curated the exhibition Tidalectics (2017). She is the curator of the investigative exhibition Prospecting Ocean by Armin Linke at the Institute of Marine Sciences of the National Research Council of Italy in Venice (2018), Joan Jonas’s upcoming exhibition at the Ocean Space in Venice (2019), and her performance Moving Off the Land. Oceans – Sketches and Notes presented in collaboration with Tate Modern.

Markus Reymann
Markus Reymann is Director and Co-Founder of TBA21–Academy. Together with Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza, Reymann has developed the mission of TBA21–Academy, which fosters interdisciplinary dialogue and exchange surrounding the most urgent ecological, social, and economic issues facing our oceans today. Reymann leads the non-profit’s engagement with artists, activists, scientists, and policy-makers worldwide, resulting in the creation of new commissions, new bodies of knowledge, and new policies advancing the conservation and protection of the oceans.