Lambda print
100 x 70 cm

This photograph depicts a clothesline near the sea in Papua New Guinea, where communities live in close proximity to the diminishing coastline. Armin Linke spent three years researching the technocratic entanglement of industry, science, politics, and economy at the new frontier of ocean excavations. The result Prospecting Ocean, commissioned by TBA21–Academy, was his exhibition at the Institute of Marine Sciences of the National Research Council of Italy in Venice in summer 2018. Armin Linke accompanied leading marine scientists in their labs, interviewed experts on the jurisdiction of the sea at the International Seabed Authority in Jamaica, visited the United Nations headquarters during the 2017 international conference dedicated to the future of the oceans, and met with environmental activists in Papua New Guinea. In that island nation, one of the most economically deprived countries in the world, concerns regarding the impact of deep-sea mining activities led by, among others, the Canadian corporation Nautilus Minerals Inc., are rising. The islands are affected by land-based mining and sea-level rise and have already lost 20 percent of their territory. In addition, they are now under threat of losing their economically and ecologically sustainable way of living.