Artist Sinks 'Cars' to Rejuvenate Reef

Artist Leandro Erlich just sank 22 cars to the bottom of the sea off the coast of Miami, Florida. Has he been driven mad? No. Rather, his latest work is meant to spotlight Florida’s fragile reefs.   

"It's not so much about (cars)," Ximena Caminos told ABC News of Erlich’s work. "It's more about (transforming) that symbol into something that … supports nature." 

Caminos is the founder and artistic director of The Reefline. It's an underwater sculpture park and nature preserve. It runs for 7 miles off the coast of Miami Beach. Erlich is responsible for its newest exhibit. The attraction features 22 “cars.” They're fashioned out of marine-friendly concrete. Each car weighs 13 tons. They are seeded with coral. Over time, the artist hopes, those coral will grow. He hopes they'll form colorful patterns and complex textures across the surface of each car.   

Erlich’s work, titled “Concrete Coral?”, is all about conservation. Cars and other vehicles are responsible for about 12% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions each year. Climate change caused by those emissions is one cause of mass bleaching events across the world’s coral reefs. Warmer water forces coral to expel the algae they rely on as an energy source. When they do so, they “bleach.” This means they turn white. By fashioning the newest phase of The Reefline’s coral sanctuary after the very thing that helps cause coral bleaching, Erlich and Caminos hope to change hearts and minds. 

"We need to change and transform the way we behave towards nature and toward the environment," Caminos told ABC.

Thought Question: What is something in your everyday life that you think could be turned into art to make people care more about protecting the planet?

Photo of Concrete Coral art installation by artist Leandro Erlich from Instagram courtesy of @leandroerlichofficial.