Diatcom Court

Using a microscope, Cortada captured the image of a diatom from samples used by scientists at FIU’s Florida Coastal Everglades LTER (Long Term Ecological Research) to study the ecology of the Everglades and sea level rise.  Diatoms are water-bound, single-celled symmetrical organisms encapsulated in silica.  
They harness the power of the sun to create oxygen and are responsible for generating for 1/3 of the air we breathe. In the art, Cortada’s diatoms hover over a layer of images (Cortada captured using Google maps) showing the artificial canals and lakes created to develop parcels of developable land where the River of Grass once flowed.