Art and oceans. Science and music. Solar systems and sustainability. They all join forces in a new art film showcasing coral reefs and rare marine life most threatened by climate change.
The project’s mastermind, Australian artist Lynette Wallworth, designed the film, Coral Rekindling Venus, for projection in digital planetariums, and she invited the New York City band Antony and the Johnsons to write the song that accompanies this trailer.
Both the artist and the musicians are known for their evocative lamentations about humanity’s impact on nature. Five years in the making with the help of an Emmy-winning underwater cinematographer, the ambitious film is “a call to action," Wallworth told The Guardian.
"Coral is the canary in the coalmine of the ocean,” Wallworth said. “They can handle very little temperature change.”
Wallworth’s original inspiration was not only her passion for coral reef conservation but also a rare astronomical event, Venus's transit of the sun (hence the work’s title).
Specifically, she was compelled by the worldwide cooperation of scientists viewing transits during the 18th century, which eventually led to accurate calculations about the size of the solar system. Wallworth said the film hearkens back to that same possibility, that scientists can work in unison toward a common goal—in this case, protecting precious ocean ecosystems.
Antony and the Johnsons add their own call to action in their song ‘Rise’:
Rise for the coral, rise for the sea.
Rise while there’s still something left to lose.
Rise while we still have a chance to choose.
The film made its world premiere at the World Science Festival on May 31 and debuted in planetariums around the world on June 5.
Video grab from Coral Rekindling Venus trailer.