Have You Ever Seen a Mermaid Playing Piano?

Jason deCaires Taylor

Jason deCaires Taylor (b. 1974) is a sculptor, environmentalist and professional underwater photographer. Taylor graduated from the London Institute of Arts in 1998 with a BA Honours in Sculpture. Taylor became the first of a new generation of artists to shift the concepts of the Land art movement into the realm of the marine environment.

deCaires Taylor Underwater Museums

When most people think of museums, they think of ancient relics, artwork, and other treasures from times long past. But what if I told you that there was a museum unlike any other in the world? A museum where the exhibits were alive and constantly changing? This is the unique world of deCaires Taylor’s underwater museums. You can also see Ocean Atlas in Nassau, Bahamas.

The sculptures contained within these museums are designed to act as both an educational tool and a warning sign. They showcase the beauty and diversity of marine ecologies while also highlighting the dangers that humans pose to these ecosystems. Each sculpture contains its own personal message, as deCaires Taylor hopes to inspire people to take care of our oceans. Each artwork is brought alive through its union with the biological marine life that attaches to it, and thrives.No two visits to any given sculpture will be quite the same. The changing formations of the sea surface affect the filtered light that scatters down to the ocean floor, and depth alters the visual spectrum of color that can be seen. Spawning and other ocean cycles also change the dynamic of these artworks, as it also affects the visibility of the waters while bringing forth new life to seed the sculptures, which may take hold and grow.

Over the past few decades, we have lost over 40% of our natural coral reefs. The World Resources Institute projects that 90% of coral reefs will be in danger by 2030, and all of them by 2050. The significance of these museums is highlighted in the creation of the world’s first underwater sculpture park, which was founded and constructed by deCaires Taylor in 2006 and is recognized as one of the top 25 Wonders of the World by National Geographic.

Located in the Exuma Cays chain of islands,  the illusionist David Copperfield conceived and brought to life the Islands of what are now knowns as Copperfield Bay. He left the original name, Musha Cay, for the largest island of this 11-island property, where ultra-wealthy, high-end visitors are drawn by the islands’ seclusion.

It is here that pirates once hid out, followed later by Caribbean cocaine drug lords, only to have the likes of the world’s wealthiest follow in their footsteps today. Indeed, Bill and Melinda Gates, Jim Carrey, Oprah Winfrey, John Travolta, and Google co-founder Sergey Brin (who chose to get married there) have all sought refuge at Copperfield Bay.