Oct 15 2010Soylent Reef: Fake Reef Made Out Of People
Not real people though. They're just molds of real people. It's not like their actual bones are in there. Maybe some teeth and toenails, sure, but no bones.
British artist Jason de Caires Taylor's Mexican installation and reef conservation project is for a fine cause. Taylor has 350 statues in place--all cast from real people--that will eventually sprout coral.
Taylor hopes that when his statues eventually bloom with coral--and they should, thanks to their carefully-neutralized pH levels--the attraction will divert tourists away from Cancun's natural reefs, which are being stressed to death by the over 750,000 people who crowd its coral and underwater creatures every year. The goal is to finish the artificial reef with 400 statues--adding up to 120 tons of concrete, secured 10 feet under the ocean's floor.
I've been to Cancun before. I didn't see this. Maybe it was because I went in '99. Or maybe it was because I went in a dream. There's really no telling these days. Am I really writing articles at 9PM on a Friday night, or am I only dreaming it? Actually doing it? F*** I'm a loser.
Hit the jump for a portrait of the whole group. Say barnacles!
This Haunting Reef Is Made Out of (Fake) People [gizmodo]
Thanks to Chaemelion, who's eaten soylent reef before and said it tastes like spilled oil. I believe it.
Reader Comments
1. Fullmetal3K - October 15, 2010 10:30 PM
Rwar!
2. Fullmetal3K - October 15, 2010 10:30 PM
First!
3. Fullmetal3K - October 15, 2010 10:31 PM
I wonder how long it'll take for someone else to comment?
4. thumperchica - October 15, 2010 10:33 PM
Atlantis!
5. Android Boy - October 15, 2010 11:04 PM
So they found some corpses from Oceanic Flight 815.
6. Bri - October 15, 2010 11:07 PM
I FOUND ATLANTIS!
7. b(^-^b) - October 15, 2010 11:12 PM
GW WHAT IS THIS?! I AM APPALLED AT SUCH FOOLERY!
8. ray - October 16, 2010 12:03 AM
i could do this in my aquarium too...
9. --___-- - October 16, 2010 12:42 AM
I'll bet this is going to confuse the heck out of someone in 10,000 earth years.
10. Zebra - October 16, 2010 12:55 AM
Rapture
11. paty - October 16, 2010 6:01 AM
This is a tourist attraction and its known as some sort of underwater museum. There are other parts to it as well, like creepy children sitting at desks and giant faces looking like they are about to poop. All in all, I hate the water enough let alone water infested with stone people.
12. flib - October 16, 2010 8:58 AM
Am I the only one who's first thought was of the Weeping Angels from Doctor Who?
13. Akion - October 16, 2010 9:59 AM
@Flib
No, you're really not. In fact I thought this was a pretty direct reference to them. >.>
<.<
I think the whole thing's just creepy. (And now we're all doomed thanks to GW posting a picture of not just one, but many Angels onto the internet... thanks, we're boned...)
14. fdgdf - October 16, 2010 10:06 AM
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15. rick - October 16, 2010 10:18 AM
I'm posting while I poop! Smart phones rule. By the way, I'm such a man I stand to poop. Sure it's a little messier but who wants to sit on the toilet like a girl? Not this guy.
16. TK - October 16, 2010 10:27 AM
Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses. I was thinking it too.
17. jerms - October 16, 2010 1:17 PM
THE REEF IS PEOPLE....
18. Middy - October 16, 2010 1:53 PM
Love the Little Mermaid tag.
19. BEFUKin - October 16, 2010 4:57 PM
WOW!
wow?
WOW!
how?
WOW!!
powow?
WOW!!!
20. Lemon - October 16, 2010 5:04 PM
I would swim down there and feel their boobies
21. tauri888 - October 16, 2010 5:26 PM
DON'T BLINK!!
22. a dead girl - October 16, 2010 5:58 PM
umbrella
23. Steve Jobs - October 16, 2010 10:33 PM
Steve Jobs is not impressed
24. Gir - October 16, 2010 11:02 PM
I do hope I'm not the only one who got the Soylent reef analogy... god im old...
25. SvenVanHelvoort - October 16, 2010 11:52 PM
WHAT THE FUCK!!?!?! THIS IS TERRIBLE!!!!
26. SvenVanHelvoort - October 16, 2010 11:56 PM
legit comment this time, @#23, WTF HOT BABIES!!!!, YOU FREAKING PEDO!!!!, @#25 no you're not
27. Mayo - October 17, 2010 2:57 AM
Creeeeeeeeeeeeeeepy.
28. naas - October 17, 2010 11:07 AM
this was on extreme rollercoasters on the travel channel last week
29. Pooprr - October 17, 2010 2:20 PM
@30 naas is becoming like one of those people who just say the damn thing over and over again.....Daisy that means you too...
30. naas - October 17, 2010 3:54 PM
@30 that's my away message, I'm on autopilot until I get back home from europe mid next week. BTW this was on extreme rollercoasters on the travel channel last week
31. thumperchica - October 17, 2010 5:07 PM
@25 - nah, you're not the only one.
32. yoda - October 17, 2010 5:40 PM
@21 I was thinking the same thing!
33. Five - October 17, 2010 7:53 PM
Gnarly. Freaking gnarly.
http://fivetdsisters.blogspot.com/
34. fhfgh - October 17, 2010 7:59 PM
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15 paragraph feminine fashionable autumn outfit
Snow boots upgrade of
MaoXianMao + short coat + thin leg pants most loved
5 big trend
35. Marc The Smelly Breath Cure Guy - October 18, 2010 1:20 AM
I found your article interesting, I will be updating my article Smelly Breath - Get Rid Of It Forever
36. emptyaddy - October 18, 2010 6:30 PM
...apparently they found the unreleased cover art for that last "God Lives Underwater" album...
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38. Brandon Smith - October 19, 2010 7:24 PM
WoW really? thats crazy wonder how long it took them to get all of them down there?
39. bollywood wallpapers - November 23, 2010 12:04 AM
umbrella
40. steven - November 23, 2010 12:05 AM
thanks nice post
Bollywood Wallpapers
41. User1001 - December 9, 2010 2:56 PM
Quote: secured 10 feet under the ocean's floor.
So the statues are buried under the "ocean's floor"...?
So what's the goal here, to go dive and imagine statues below ground?