Https://www.ShoreSeekers.World is an online 360o VR adventure presented by ecologically minded art collective Ayer Ayer Project.
When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down all public gatherings, my participatory artwork Shore Debris Table, Ayer Ayer Project’s where participants are invited to sit and remove microplastic fragments piece-by-piece in silence, had to cancel all its presentations.
Shoreseekers.World was created as a digital extension of the Shore Debris Table artwork so that Ayer Ayer can continue to engage the public about the plastic pollution crisis.
Part visual journey, part game, and part educational experience, the Shoreseekers.World invites players to explore two sites along the historical Johor Straits: Punggol, Singapore and Pendas in Johor, Malaysia. Connected by history and their shared predicament of plastic pollution, these real-life locations are not just an immersive backdrop, but also a stark reminder of the very real consequences of careless human practices.
Going online has allowed us to develop the original idea of the Shore Debris Table to be shared with a wider audience through the screen. Rethinking our work in the form of a game also gave us new inspiration and let us fuse the various expertise and artforms of Ayer Ayer’s collaborators into the artwork.
Players assume the role of debris collectors and are tasked to locate microplastic fragments scattered along the coastline. They are also expected to find plastiglomerate ‘gemstones’ — stone-like objects formed when plastic trash fuses with stone, sand or wood under high heat –- that are strategically hidden throughout the game, with the help of cryptic clues. Players who locate all 10 microplastic fragments and gemstones within 10 minutes will be crowned a Shore Seeker Legend in ShoreSeekers.World and stand a chance to win an artwork by the artist as a prize for their efforts.
Shoreseekers.World is supported by the National Arts Council Singapore and part of the Substation Associate Artist Programme 2020/2021
“Shoreseekers is a project from our Associate Artist programme. It addresses the issues of climate crisis. It forms part of the programming thread of 'Reterritorialization' which looks at practices which expand The Substation's capacity as a part of the art network and outreach.
'Reterritorialization' is about growing and extending The Substation's work to the world.” said
Co-Artistic Director of The Substation, Woon Tien Wei.
Beyond its environmental messaging, ShoreSeekers.World is also an exploration of folklore and cultural histories that came into being within the Johor Strait. The VR experience shares information with players about traditional beliefs of the orang laut, the indigenous peoples who first settled around Singapore, Peninsular Malaysia and Indonesia’s Riau Islands, some of whom still live there today. Their knowledge of the marine world, and the different spirits who dwell within it, reflect a different mode of engaging with the environment.
Further Information:
URL: www.shoreseekers.world
Dates: Launching 31 March 2021
Media contacts: For further information or to arrange an interview, please contact Ernest Goh: ernest@ayerayer.com
About Ayer Ayer Project:
Ayer Ayer is an ecologically-engaged initiative that reaches out to communities through visual and experiential projects through participatory artworks and citizen science. The group’s current focus on ocean plastic pollution in the regional waterways of Singapore has led to the creation of public art, research and education projects that have reached multiple public and private organisations. While Ayer Ayer’s design and engineering projects are developing plastic waste recycling methods in a closed-loop system. Ayer Ayer has since set up art studios and research outposts in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. @ayerayerproject
More info: shoreseekers.world
