Talking Sands
Talking Sands
looks into the mudflats and shallow waters zone of the Venetian Lagoon, following a narrative through a focus on one protagonist, the Tapes philippinarum bivalve. The surface of the mudflats (13%) and salt marshes (12%) amount to one quarter surface of the entire lagoon or roughly 135 roughly square kilometers. Together with the 67% water they create an unique, rich and fragile environment.
Sectional ‘bathymetry’ or underwater topography of the lagoon shallows looks as if it was one straight line, while few millimeters height difference represent an entirely new condition for a variety of species: in relation to the water column, sediment oxidization, acidity, salinity, temperatures and many more aspects that make an area habitable or inhabitable...
A diversity of entanglements between natural and anthropogenic factors of the lagoon take place around those, to human eyes, almost invisible depths. Conditions ranging from economical, environmental, climate change, sea-level rise, ‘acqua alta’, and the temperature increase, can prove deadly for many species within this thin zone.....
Changes in the functioning of the ecosystem further influence the physiology of the various species, and show the scale dependenties , linking the microscopic with the global.