ABSTRACT
Art can bridge science and the humanities to create public awareness of critical climate change issues. Art’s radical nature, its ability to test hypotheses and to funnel an environmental message to a wider audience, means that it is a feasible way to communicate critical scientific information. The work of Australian artist Janet Laurence has been and is a major contribution to this alignment between science and the humanities. Her international reputation and acclaim, coupled with her installation Deep Breathing: Resuscitation for the Reef (2016), a response to the Great Barrier Reef, has resulted in greater recognition, albeit apprehensive, of the devastating damage the coral ecologies have suffered over recent decades. This chapter is structured as a walk through the wards of a hospital, dovetailing the writing of Prudence Gibson with images of Janet Laurence’s work, to bring attention to various compromised aspects of the Great Barrier Reef habitat. The text is informed by Critical Plant studies, Posthuman theory and environmental ethics.
