Serpentine Currents - Fragments of a Changing Future is a new data-animated installation by German-Scottish artist Dana-Fiona Armour. 

 

Inspired by endangered sea snakes, which act as sensitive bioindicators that register changes in their environments, this dynamic sculpture explores how marine ecosystems reflect the shifting state of our planet. 

 

At the center of the installation are three dramatically enlarged sculptural forms derived from a 3D scan of ‘Aipysurus fuscus’,during her residency at the Paris Natural History Museum , a sea snake species listed as endangered on the IUCN

Red List. 

 

Armour has fragmented and reassembled the snake’s intricate scale patterns into looping structures positioned amongst the courtyard fountains, echoing the rise and fall of tidal waters. 

 

Each sculpture is embedded with a lighting system that responds to oceanographic data gathered from the British coastline. The light sequences draw on 50 years of recorded sea temperature and salinity data, and projected dataset modelling the next 50 years under continued climate warming. 

 

The light patterns respond directly to these environmental variables, with salinity influencing colour intensity and temperature affecting variations in rhythm and movement. The work speculates on a future in which rising sea temperatures will alter species distribution, allowing sea snakes to inhabit waters beyond their natural territories, including the British coast. 

 

Serpentine Currents invites us to consider our entangled future with marine species, climate systems, and the shifting ecologies that sustain life on Earth.