Down Deep: Living seas, living bodies.

30 October 2025 – 4 April 2026

State Art Gallery in Sopot, Sopot, Poland

 

In Depth: Living Seas, Living Bodies is a group exhibition and research project that explores our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual connections to the ocean. Presented at the State Art Gallery in Sopot (PGS) and produced in collaboration with the Institute of Oceanology of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IO PAN) and the University of Gdańsk (UG), the exhibition begins with the context of the gallery's unique location on the Baltic Sea and then expands to a broader understanding of ocean space through the work of an international group of artists.

 

The central question of the exhibition is what it means to "become ocean," that is, to surrender our human bodies to the vast body of water that covers over two-thirds of the Earth. Scientists have long studied the aquatic origins of life on our planet, initially considering the possibility of originating in shallow tidal pools and hot springs. Modern research indicates that life may have originated near deep-sea hydrothermal vents, as the chemicals present there and the energy supplied could have fueled numerous reactions essential for the evolution of life.

 

In Depth: Living Seas, Living Bodies begins with this hypothesis of an oceanic origin for life—at least 3.5 billion years ago—to consider our innate connection with water, and consequently, asks how we arose and how we continue to exist as a collective species. In this sense, the exhibition counters the philosophical, religious, and techno-industrial tradition of anthropocentrism, which continually separates us from our environment and which has been fostered by the development of modern science and agriculture—with its ingrained desire to tame, categorize, and control the world around us. If we relinquished this unique human position, could we understand ourselves as part of a larger body of life and begin to exist in communion with the deep, powerful rhythms of the ocean?

 

Treating the ocean as a sentient being, In Depth: Living Seas, Living Bodies draws on James Lovelock's groundbreaking Gaia hypothesis, which posits that Earth is a superorganism capable of synergistically self-regulating its environment as a biosphere-friendly space. Marine ecologist, diver, and sailor Glenn Edney expands on this, arguing that "the ocean is alive… [it is] a global, living ecosystem; a self-regulating whole, greater than the sum of its physiological parts." Through the processes of respiration, circulation, and metabolism, as well as the energies of the myriad life forms that inhabit the sea, an "ocean mind" emerges, based on interbeing and interdependence; a consciousness that emerges as a property of a self-organizing system. It is through such ideas of collective and non-human intelligence that the exhibition explores the many layers of ocean space, drawing interdisciplinarily on marine humanities, environmental studies, quantum biology, cybernetics, theories and histories of consciousness, science fiction, poetry, and indigenous cultural knowledge.

 

Through speculation, invention, and transformation, visitors to In Depth: Living Seas, Living Bodies will encounter creators who tell new stories about our oceanic connection—stories that can help us reimagine the realities of division, exploitation, and pollution that dominate human engagement with the ocean. In the face of the ocean's ongoing devastation, it asks how we can develop more fluid ways of thinking, in which we lose track of linear time, enter spaces of reflection and wandering—both physical and mental—and loosen the boundaries of our bodies and minds through forms of oceanic exchange. In other words, how can we become more oceanic?

 

As a space of "rich contexts, emotional depth, and interdependence," the ocean offers important opportunities for interspecies communication across time and space. In Depth: Living Seas, Living Bodies seeks to grasp the immense potential offered by this vast body of water, treating it as both a potential collaborator and a source of sentient knowledge.