MADmuseum CROCHET CORAL REEF Toxic Seas

The exquisite & exciting environmentally conscience exhibit at the MADmuseum is so enticing I'm afraid the message gets washed away from what twin sisters Margaret & Christine Wertheim want to make clear.  We're destroying our environment by the endless detitrus we cast off regardless of our harmful & wasteful behaviors.  The beauty & wonder of these exotic, intricate & mystifying sculptures shaped from finely crafted crocheting, knitting and piecing together of plastic waste is a reminder the great coral reef in all its colorful splendor is being wiped out.  The damage being wrought comes from plastic & toxic waste as well as global warming that is threatening marine life and life as we know it.  The large, multi-medium sculptures call to mind Tim Burton creations or Audrey from "Little Shop of Horrors."  The pieces are both eerie & beautiful.  You might expect the objects to undulate or reach out & grab you.  You may even be tempted to touch these sculptures for their many enticing, tactile materials.  Warning:  Look, yeah, but don't touch.  The walls are painted blue to place you within the oceans.  There are glass displays resembling acquariums; another acquatic theme contrivance that is convincing.  The glass displays "Pod World" looked like jewelry displays; the beads, rocks, sand & wire objects are bedazzling.  The "Crohet Coral Reef" is rife with cause for conservation & reminders of our responsibilities to protect our planet from demise.  "The sea, the great unifier is man's only hope  Now, as never before the old phrase has a literal meaning.  We are all in the same boat."  (J Costeau)