Perhaps coincidentally too appropro for the 7th anniversary of Katrina, and the arrival of hurricane Isaac, I’ve come across some pretty interesting work from British-born artist Jason deCaires Taylor.

Taylor creates life size cement sculptures of people and then lowers them to the bottom of the sea where they become a living part of the ecosystem.  Some of the images from this project remind me of Benh Zeitlin’s (now of Beasts of the Southern Wild fame) Glory at Sea.

There’s something very powerful about the human figure underwater.  The stillness of these human figures is compounded by the fact that they become artificial reefs, adding an exuberant and colorful layer of life that hadn’t existed before.