Evelyn Rydz: Floating Artifacts

Evelyn Rydz: Floating Artifacts, a component of the exhibition The Ocean After Nature on view at SMFA at Tufts. Floating Artifacts examines the life cycles of ocean debris – from ancient organisms, to fossil fuel at the base of the ocean, to quickly manufactured plastic toys and tools on land, and back to the ocean as floating fragments of our contemporary lives.

The Ocean After Nature examines how the seascape is shaped in an era when human beings have become the driving force in the development of the planet. Floating Artifacts, specially presented within the Tisch Gallery as a component of The Ocean After Nature, is an ongoing project mapping coastlines through the residues of our contemporary lives. Exploring perceptions of scale, the washed ashore debris is magnified to examine everyday actions and lasting impacts, fleeting and geologic time, unstable and fixed conditions. Focused on the narratives these found objects have gathered on their journeys, Rydz explores the interconnected histories and possible futures of these misplaced objects and ocean currents around the globe. The project aims to share multiple perspectives, from individual coastlines to global currents and the cumulative human actions that link them and us together.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.