Miguel Sbastida AC/E

It’s impossible to tell whether artworks that address climate change ever contribute towards CO₂ reduction or bio-diversity preservation. That’s why Miguel Sbastida’s approach is so commendable: rather than just make his work and hope for awareness to do the rest, he donates part of the proceeds to a specific cause: to save the coral reefs from bleaching and extinction. The work Sbastida created is inspired by the reefs. It comes alive when you imagine it under water, swaying with the current. One set of objects has a glow-in-the-dark glaze, referring to the symbiotic relation between corals and the algae living inside them. The algae provide the corals with nutrients and give it its bright colours. But under duress the algae produce toxic oxygens that cause their hosts to expel them, losing their colour in the process. However, some corals are fluorescent, emitting light to entice the algae to return.