Costal Links: Macrotidal Quadrat Series

Hidden in the subtidal and intertidal zones off East Point in Darwin, Northern Territory are communities of sponges which can resist high temperatures and UV exposure. Partially revealed during king low tides, this secret world of nearshore fringing coral reef ecosystems contributes to Darwin’s annual wet season wrack line, intermingling with drift wood and other entanglements. Strange and wonderful shapes assort with plant matter and other more mysterious objects. Assembled on the wrack line by wet season wave force, sponges, corals and algae can be viewed as a series of comparative traits or a fusion of independent units. The translation of this infrastructure into forms, marks, colours, natural systems and human systems drives a mimetic vision of a new whole. Along the beach, tidal lines of coastal debris are arranged in tiers of organic and inorganic forms; real and sensual objects interacting with real and sensual qualities

Photographic documentation by Fiona Morrison