Island Chen’s immersive installation teaches us about oceanic climate change

Off the coast of China is the tiny Taiwanese island of Matsu, home to a body of water that lights up at night. The sea around the island is home to an algae bloom of bioluminescent dinoflagellates that create an otherworldly blue sparkle in the dark. But the recent bloom in populations – which has attracted thousands of tourists to the island – is credited to pollution and global warming.

And beautiful as the phenomenon may be, the huge algae blooms are not only thriving in the habitat created by climate change, but also damaging the ecosystem. While the algae glow blue at night, witnessing them during a day is a different matter; where they can be seen to choke the water in large red clouds that kill other creatures.

Island Chen’s solution is to create Blue Island, a self-contained ecosystem that contains all of the beauty of the algae, while educating visitors about the harm they do the oceans. The populations feed off agricultural waste, and photosynthesis is maximised with a Fresnel lens in the top that amplifies sunlight. Chen hopes that the installation will attract the same eco-tourists that come to see the coast and benefit the local economy, while also serving to educate them about the harm the spectacle does to the natural environment.