“Invisible threads are the strongest ties,” according to Friedrich Nietzsche.
Michael Massaro doesn’t quote German philosophers in everyday conversation, but he does express his belief that all things are connected somehow even if we don’t immediately realize it. Exploring those invisible threads sparks his creative impulses.
“I like to put myself in an uncontrollable place as an artist, feeling around in the darkness,” he says. “That’s where the nature of science and art comes together. Scientists search for truth, and so do artists. We process how things go together. If you’re really interested in learning, failure won’t scare you. The things you learn may be connected to something — someday.”
With this mindset, the St. Petersburg sculptor was a good fit for FGCU’s Crossroads of Art & Science Residency. The culmination of his monthlong collaboration with FGCU science and art faculty and students is “Michael Massaro: The Vanishing,” an exhibition that opens Thursday, Feb. 11 with his gallery talk at 5 p.m. and a reception to follow. His exhibit will remain on display in the ArtLab Gallery through March 17.
“I’ve never done a science-related project on this scale,” said Massaro, who more typically explores themes of human rights and social justice in his work.
Nevertheless, Massaro felt an immediate connection with the seagrass research of Assistant Professor James Douglass of Marine and Ecological Sciences. Even though he had no idea how he would approach it artistically when he chose that subject after a faculty meet-and-greet.
He started by learning. Seagrasses help clarify water by trapping sediments and nutrients. They absorb carbon dioxide and store it in their roots and leaves. They provide shelter and sustenance for sea life. They are key indicators of an ecosystem’s health, and yet they’re being threatened in Southwest Florida.
“There was so much to sift through it took a year to wrap my head around it,” Massaro said.
The University of Tampa alum saw the light one evening while netting for shrimp at low tide in Fort Desoto Park in Pinellas County. The lamp strapped to his noggin illuminated an awe-inspiring array of biodiversity – call it splendor in the seagrass – including spider crabs, bat rays, lungfish and such.
“You’d never know these things were there,” he said. “At low tide, the top of the grass lies on the surface and the critters come up.”
This aquatic “aha” moment inspired one piece that’s not in the ArtLab show: a steel sculpture in the Arts Complex courtyard that suggests stalks of grass rising and resting in curls on the surface of a pond; with the 10-foot-high roofline of the boxy courtyard serving as the plane of the “waterline,” it doesn’t take much imagination to conjure the feel of standing inside an aquarium. Bolted and welded together, the piece was completed by students who created porcelain interpretations of sea life to attach to it.
In just its second iteration, the Crossroads program this year involved more interaction between resident artist and College of Arts and Science faculty and students. It also gained financial support from donors Alice and Dean Fjelstul and a state grant.
“Each year, we’re taking it deeper, engaging more faculty and students,” said Gallery Director John Loscuito. “There are more points of contact.”
Students in Patricia Fay’s advanced ceramics class were inspired by an eye-opening and bone-chilling snorkeling jaunt in January with Douglass and some of his marine science students out of FGCU’s Vester Marine and Environmental Science Research Field Station in Bonita Springs. They took the plunge for the sake of art.
“It was really out of my comfort zone,” said senior art major and first-time snorkeler Sabrina Alonso. “I threw myself out there because I wanted to learn more about the environment. I was fascinated by the pipefish. They were so cute.”
Even Fay, no newbie to marine muck-abouts, spied some unfamiliar forms. How to transform them into porcelain figures – “without creating some sort of kitsch diorama” – presented an interesting challenge for her well-practiced potters, the professor said.
The bulk of Massaro’s work fills – and pokes out of — the ArtLab Gallery. With its double-height ceiling and glass panes, the space has a bit of a fish tank feel, too. An appropriate setting for more of Massaro’s sculptural work, including what appears to be a massive old-time fish trap constructed with bamboo – the largest member of the grass family – and lashed together with recycled bicycle tires. Months of experimentation with recycling dead seagrass into paper yielded other pieces in the show. Obviously, Massaro is down with FGCU’s sustainability ethos.
As for his scientific collaborator, Douglass said he was impressed by how easily the two communicated about their processes. He enjoyed immersing his science students in a creative endeavor with artists, too.
“It felt very natural talking with him about my seagrass science because he is a longtime Floridian nature lover with a ‘portfolio’ of real-life experiences in the marine environment,” Douglass said. “Having the opportunity to do this type of collaborative, interdisciplinary work, and do it well, with great people, reminds me that I’ve very lucky to be part of the community here at FGCU.”
- Read John Loscuito’s Q&A with Michael Massaro
ART EXHIBIT
“Michael Massaro: The Vanishing” is on display through March 17 in the ArtLab Gallery. The exhibit is sponsored by Alice and Dean Fjelstul, The State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture, WGCU Public Media, and The Beaches of Fort Myers and Sanibel.