Artwork: Elmgreen & Dragset studio, To Whom It May Concern, Place Vendôme, 2018
Starfish are sometimes seen as the reflection of the stars in the sky in the ocean’s depths. These magical creatures navigate the world through touch, reflexes and instinct. They have an incredible ability to regenerate, even survive amputations. And like so many creatures in the sea, they are under threat from environmental pollution.
Image: Starfish/sea stars from the Galapagos Islands (photo: @perrinjames1)
Elmgreen & Dragset studio have created a site-specific installation, To Whom It May Concern, currently in the Place Vendôme, Paris. It consists of 100 red bronze starfish scattered in the square, as if the ocean has flooded then ebbed to leave them stranded. The radical strangeness of their placement out of water spotlights how their survival is at peril, and the threat posed by ocean pollution such as plastics. Yet with their remarkable abilities to regenerate and survive, they are also a symbol of hope—the possibilities of new ways of living.