Sea Creatures: Life Below the Ocean

Strange exhibition at the Royal Horticultural Halls looking at life in the oceans.

 
I say strange because I wasn’t sure what level it was aimed at. There were games and a child friendly app but also very detailed information on the creatures on display which I found a bit impenetrable. This was an expensive show and they did their best to recreate an underwater feel but it felt like being in bunker hung with a few curtains. The much billed virtual reality part cost extra and a sign said that the content might not relate to the exhibition so basically something for the children to play with along with the ball park. Oh and the film seemed to be an episode of Blue Planet and not related to the content you had just seen.

I went round wondering if I was looking at models or preserved creatures and they don’t tell you till the end that they are produced by a method called plasticisation which replaced the moisture from the creature and replaces it with a plastic polymer. Once I knew this I was more impressed and did go back to take a closer look at them. It would have been much better to tell the punters about this at the start as it seemed to be the USP of the show. 

I found the whole thing rather eerie with overtones of Damian Hurst when you see sections through a penguin! The exhibition is going to travel and it might work better in different venues but be careful as I said before it is expensive.


 
Closed on 30 August 2018

 

 

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