Sensing the Ocean through the Exquisite Corpse ArtScience method

Jung, J, et al. 2025. Sensing the Ocean through the Exquisite Corpse ArtScience method. Elem Sci Anth ,13: 1. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2024.00051 PRACTICE BRIDGE Sensing the Ocean through the Exquisite Corpse ArtScience method Julia Jung 1,2, * , Aleksandra Cherkasheva 3 , Charlotte Corporeau 4 , Jayalaxshmi Mistry 2 , Diego Narvaez 5 , Alison Laurie Neilson 6 , Dwight Owens 7 , Camille Parrain 8 , David J. Riddell 7 , and Anna Zivian 9 1 Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies, The University of British Columbia, Okanagan, Kelowna, BC, Canada 2 Cobra Collective CIC, Egham, UK 3 Institute of Oceanology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Sopot, Poland 4 Ifremer, Universite ´ de Brest, CNRS, IRD, LEMAR, Plouzane ´ , France 5 Visual Artist, www.diegonarvaezh.com 6 CICS.NOVA, NOVA University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal 7 Ocean Networks Canada, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada 8 LIENSs, UMR 7266, University of La Rochelle, La Rochelle, France 9 Ocean Nexus affiliated researcher, Kingston, RI, USA * Corresponding author: Email: [email protected] The curre nt interconnected crises of climate b re akdown, biodive rsity loss, and lack of just ice and equity suggest that existing mainstream actions are inadequate and that different approaches are needed. Using a participatory action research approach, we aimed to demonstrate the pot ential of the asynchronous group-based “ Exquisite Corpse ” art process to catalyze meaningful relationships within an interdisciplinary group of ocean ArtScience practitioners. We conducted two action cycles and iterations of this proces s and a final action cycle of collective meaning-making. The first iteration to ok place in Fall 2021 with 7 participants focused on the topic of “ocean hypoxia”; th e second focused on “extreme ocean events” with 10 participants in Spring 2022. The third action cycle in Spring 2023 resulted in the themes of “curiosity a nd connecti ng with pe ople in a safe(r) space, ” “semi-ambiguous seed as a catalyst,” “space for experimentation and creation,” “sharing findings and experiences,” “collective creation of connected artworks,” “finding commons and common ground(s),” “giving, receiving and opening,” “developing relationships,” and “boundaries navigating fluidity.” These themes describe the benefits that can arise from the Exquisite Corpse process on both individual and community levels of practice that could be extrapolated more widely and illustrate the potential contributions of oc ean ArtScience on a systemic level. O n an indi vidual level, par ticipants gained ne w scientific, artistic or personal insights, expanded their practices and deeply connected with other participants. At the community level, we argue that participatory exercises like the Exquisite Corpse process can increase relational trust, generating community-wide benefits. Additionally, activating pluralistic perspectives can help communities create more welcoming spa ces for diverse participants. These emerging relationships have strengthened this budding community of practice, with further projects and opportunities growing from the endeavor. Our project also high lights how ArtScience approaches can help meet th e challenges of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. Keywords: ArtScience, Transdisciplinarity, Participatory action research, Ocean Science, Exquisite Corpse, UN Ocean Decade 1. Introduction “Imagine someone saying, ‘Our fundamental situation is joyful.’ Now imagine believing it. Or forget belief: imagine feeling, even if for a moment, that it were true.” (Nelson, 2009, p. 89) To address the current interconnected crises of climate breakdown, biodiversity loss, and lack of justice and equity, existing mainst rea m actions are inadequate; we need different approaches. Creative perspectives are espe cially important for our ocean, which is often neglected in general public discourse, despite the ocean being the - Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/elementa/article-pdf/13/1/00051/913427/elementa.2024.00051.pdf by guest on 22 December 2025 Art. 13(1) page 2 of 24 Jung et al: Sensing the Ocean through the Exquisite Corpse ArtScience method largest habitat on Earth and a crucial driver of our climate. Interest in the ocean as a space for increased commercial activity has been growing (Jouffray et al., 2020; Hallgren and H ansson, 2021), building on a misguided narrative tradition that casts the ocean as a frontier, something to be discovered, explored, colonized, and exploited for human use (Steinberg, 2018; Germond-Duret, 2022). The degraded state of the ocean today, including rapidly warm ing waters, declining fisheries, and a quickening pace of biodiversity loss, urges u s to help r ebuild the oc ean’s resilience (Duarte et al., 2020; Halpern, 2020). - Rebuilding the ocean’s resilience will require transfor mative approaches to ocean science and marine conserva tion that address the current barriers to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in those fields (Johri et al., 2021). We find those barriers somewhat mirror the exploitativ e perspective on the ocean. They include the ongoing impacts of colonial and neocolonial perceptions and actions (Datchoua-Tirvaudey et al., 2023; de Vos et al., 2023), which echo and reinforce the structural racism per vasive in many fields of science (Weinreb and Sun, 2023). Other barriers include the lack of diversity in many ocean science and marine conser vation spaces, which reflects broader trends among environmental NGOs and foundations (e.g., Green 2.0, 2024). This lack of diversity limits engagement and success of marginalized and over burdened groups such as early-career researchers, Black, Indigenous, and people of color, LGBTQIA+ individuals and women (Johri et al., 2021). Addressing those barriers would not only make marine research more equitable but also more effective by increasing policy implementation and possibilities for innovation and cross-cultural exchange through drawing on diverse and contextspecific forms of knowledge (Belhabib, 2021; Johri et al., 2021; Datchoua-Tirvaudey et al., 2023; Spalding et al., 2023). Traditionally, the majority of ocean science has been conducted from the point of view of a single con ceptual world, a so-called “one-world world,” deriving from a Eurocentric ontology of modernity (Law, 2015). This one-world world of ocean science is dominated by the natural sciences (Law, 2015; Bennett, 2019; McKinley et al., 2022). The need for a paradigm shift in ocean sci ence and marine conservation is echoed in the establish ment of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (UNESCO-IOC, 2021), which calls for increased co-creation and transdisciplinary research (Clau det et al., 2020; Franke et al., 2023). As aptly summarized by Adrienne Maree Brown: “There is such urgency in the multitude of crises we face, it can make it hard to remem ber that in fact it is urgency thinking (urgent constant unsustainable growth) that got us to this point, and that our potential success lies in doing deep, slow, intentional work” (Brown, 2017, p. 114). In the case of ocean science and marine conservation, this work means acknowledging the ocean’s ontological multiplicity by making space for a plurality of coexisting narratives (Neilson and Sa ˜o Mar cos, 2019), andlinkedinterdisciplinary, multisite, and multiscale methodologies (Maze ´ et al., 2018), that aim to address those barriers to justice, equity, and inclusion. - - - - - - - - - The interdisciplinary initiatives known collectively as Ocean ArtScienc e c an make substantial contributions toward addressing the challenges of the UN Ocean Decade and beyond (Jung et al., 2022), especially concerning rela tionships. A recent review on behalf of UNESCO suggests Challenge 10 (“Change Humanity’s Relationship with the Ocean”) to be reworded to “Restore Society’s Relationship with the Ocean” (Glithero et al., 2024, p. 9). Calling for more inclusion, the review cited the concept of “Two-Eyed Seeing,” which was brought forward as a guiding principle by Mi’kmaw Elder Albert Marshall, who is the design ated voice on environm ental matters in Unama’ki-Cape Breton (Bartlett et al., 2012). However, the review neglected to engage with the p ower issues that secure dominant norms while excluding other ways of knowing. ArtScience initiatives can transform power inequities for innovative and more pluralistic forms of transdisciplinary collaboration. As detailed in the ArtScience manifesto (Root-Bernstein et al., 2011), ArtScience aims t o create sustainable fut ures through collaborations where diffe r ent knowledges can be integrated in an open and explor ator y way (Root-Bernstein et al., 2011). Breaking the perceived binar y between art and science, art-based res ear ch can help us to create space for the engagement with and re presentation of multip le co ntexts and plur al perspectives in an emotiona lly engaging way (Strand et al., 2 022), drawing on the idea of a pluriverse (Escobar, 2018). The pluriverse is based on the Zapatista under standing of the world as “un mundo donde quepan muchos mundos - a world in which m any worlds fit” (Esco bar, 2016, p. 20). Recognizing that people have differen t experiences of reality (Blaser, 2013), the pluriverse can help to promote anti-co lonial thinking by inviting a dive r gence, plurali ty, and multi pli city of knowledge systems and perspectives into ourselves and allowing them to coexist (Trisos et al., 2021). - - - - - - Adopting a worldview based on the con cept of the pluriverse also means listening to the ocean’s perspective (Christian, 2013; Escobar, 2016) and reflecting on how our engagement with the ocean is shaped by our terrestrial perspective (Jue, 2020). Moving from a terrestrial view point, a new “seascape ecology” approaches the ocean from a perspective inspired by art and painting, suggest ing that we observe a seascape through our senses. It prompts us to engage with the ocean from a holistic per spective as a complex socio-environmental space beyond its biophysical components (Pittman, 2018). This approach highlights the plural contributions that artistic perspec tives bring to imagining new ocean narratives, which, in turn, depend on critically and collectively reimagining the way we conduct ocean science and marine conservation toward mo re e quitable ways of collaborat ion (Benne tt, 2019; Lubchenco and Gaines, 2019; Spalding et al., 2023). Linking back to our underlying ontologies and toward a pluriverse, away from the one-world world, in order to build more equitable futures, we “must dream and enact new and better pleasures, other ways of being in the world, and ultimately new worlds” (Munoz, 2009, p. 1). To do so, we suggest in this work that we need tools - ˜ - - - Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/elementa/article-pdf/13/1/00051/913427/elementa.2024.00051.pdf by guest on 22 December 2025 Jung et al: Sensing the Ocean through the Exquisite Corpse ArtScience method Art. 13(1) page 3 of 24 of imagination that are imbued with playfulness and space for experimentation. The benefits of these approaches for transdisciplinary collaborations have gained increasing attention (Tosca et al., 202 1; Jung et al., 2022; Blaeser et al., 2023; Whittaker, 2023). ArtScience collaborations can help to surface the plurality of value systems, narratives, and ontologies held by different groups regarding the ocean (Brennan, 2018). Beyond surfacing those values and perspective s, ArtScience collaborations can provide new ways of understanding and visualizing the ocean as a “multiplicity of spatialities” that “exceed liquid encounters alone” (Peters and Steinberg, 2019). These quotations refer to the many different ocean meanings held by different people, who may or may not touch its waters. ArtScience offers opportunities to bring the ocean closer to people and enact a pluriverse by demon strating that there is not one right way of seeing and con necting to the ocean. Unlike interdisciplinar y and comparative research, ArtScience can bring an international community together in ways that bypass historic and con temporary power inequities to dialogue and cocreate knowl edge. This more inclusive rebuilding of humanity’s relationship with the ocean addresses Challenge 1 0 of the Ocean Decade ( - UNESCO-IOC, 2021). - - - A number of Ocean ArtScience collaborations have already successfully bridged art and science and put this more inclusive and pluralistic approach into practice (e.g., P aterson et al., 2020; Tosca et al., 2021). Our collaboration follows a similar path by addressing the futures we want to seenot as “somedistant placeora timeto come, but the futures we find already enfolded in the present” (Crone et al., 2022, p. 13). To build this bridge between art and science in practice, we enacted the Exquisite Corpse method, a group-based, asynchronous art process, to explore our relationships with the ocean and each other. This method (described below) derives from a Surrealist approach that allows co-creation and open-ended exploration of a topic and the emerging group relationships. We chose this focus on relationships in line with the idea of emergent strategy (Brown, 2017), based on an understanding that the strength of our insights comes from “the strength of our relation ships, which could only be measured by their depth. Scaling up would mean going deeper , being more vulnerable and more empathetic” (Brown, 2017, p. 8). - In the following, we describe and reflect on the process, including our impressions and insights from this Ocean ArtScience project from 2021 to 2024 based on the Exqui site Corpse method. We start by describing the practical ities of our project origin, followed by our methodology and associated theoretical approaches, which are partici patory action research, the Exquisite Corpse method itself, and projective techniques. Then we present our position ality statements; such statements have become a common addition to manuscripts in the social sciences a nd are increasingly included in other branches of sciences. They have potential for fostering reflexivity, accountability, and transparency abo ut power dynamics to support equity, especially in transd isciplinar y collaborations (Cadman et al., 2024). Next, we describe the process and outcomes of each action cycle. We focus on describing the process in - - - - detail because the benefits described at the end of this publication are specific to our group and linked to our positionalities. However, the general process itself and the ways of engaging in such ArtScience practices could be adapted by others leading to similar experiences. In the section “Emergent Themes,” we discuss our insights into this process, its methods, and associated benefits in the context of ArtScience collaborations more broadly. In the conclusion, we summarize the main outcomes of this pro ject and its relevance for scientists and interested ArtScience practitioners in the context of the UN Ocean Decade. Finally, we conclude with a section on our grati tudes and undercurrents to highlight the role they play for transdisciplinary collaborations. - - 2. Methodology and approaches 2.1. Project origin This collaboration emerged organically from a series of ArtScience endeavors between the authors Jung and Owens, which grew out of an ArtScience webinar “Ocean Art, Ocean Science: How 3 a rtists are using science to express care for the ocean” organized as part of the #Vir tualBl ueDeca de in itia tive (Virtual Blue De cade, 2019– 2021). Through a research p aper e xploring the role of ArtScience initiatives for the UN Ocean Decade (Jung et al., 2022) and the development of an innovative #SciArt session at the Ocean Sciences Meeting 2022 (Owens et al., 2022), the question of how to strengthen an emerging community of ocean scientists arose. Concur rently, Jung had been piloting the Exquisite Corpse project within the Cobra Collective (a social enterprise focused on using participatory visual methods to address sustainabil ity chall enges) and the Marine Social Sciences ne twork (Jung, 2022). In both instances, the Exquisite Corpse pro cess helped to strengthen community relationships by exploring a topic in a fun and emotionally engaging way. Jung was originally introduced to the Exquisite Corpse project through a group of friends, who casually “played” it as a game and creative side-pr oject in their personal lives. Inspired by the ongoing ArtScience endeavors and particularly the wish to put the theoretical concepts from Jung et al. (2022) more into practice, Jung suggested exploring the potential of the Exquisite Corpse method more formally through a joint project. As members of the Cobra Collective, Jung and Mistry had also been looking to expand the repertoire of the Collective more toward artbased methods. Like many other arts-based researchers, we wanted our explorations t o be useful (Ch ilton and Leavy, 2020), and in this case, specifically useful to broad ening the perspectives of the scientific community. At an immediate level, we wanted this project to strengthen our ArtScience community eme rging from previous projects and disparate initiatives. More broadly for this article and on a theoretical level, our objectives were to develop the Exquisite Corpse process as a participatory method that could be adapted by others to build relationships and surface values on complex topics generally and to gain insights into the contribution of art-based methods to the UN Ocean Decade by exploring e xtreme ocean e vents through this creative and emotionally engaging process. - - - - - Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/elementa/article-pdf/13/1/00051/913427/elementa.2024.00051.pdf by guest on 22 December 2025 Art. 13(1) page 4 of 24 Jung et al: Sensing the Ocean through the Exquisite Corpse ArtScience method 2.2. Participatory action research We used a participatory action research approach to create space for the emergence of possible individual and collec tive transformations (Kemmis et al., 2014). Participatory action research is an adaptive research framework that encourages co-creation and ongoin g adjustment of the research process aiming to create transformative change (Kemmis et al., 2014; Bradbury et al., 2019). It can be used in combination with many different techniques that highlight the importance of knowledge gained through experience and working together. Research happens in cycles of planning, action, obser vation, and reflection. Each cycle aims to draw out emerging insights that are acted upon in consecutive cycles where the approach is adjusted based on reflections from the previous cycle (Kemmis et al., 2014). The action cycles from this project are shown in Figure 1. We conducted two cycles of the “Exquisite Corpse” process, described below, followed by a final cycle of collective meaning-making. This final cycle of our work was the one through which we conceived, drafted, reconceived, and revised this article. - We sought to explore the varieties of insights and trans formations that could emerge from this type of collabora tion. From the onset, we wanted to hold space for one another’s different academic and practice-based interests and include them in the emerging process. Even though authors Jung and Owens initiated and facilitated the pro cess, they also engaged as full particip ants, with the inten tion of strengthe ning the emerging O cean ArtScience community of practice. They entered into these roles in full awareness that these types of potentially transformative processes require a form of vulnerability. By joining both as facilitators and full participants, they could authentically invite others to create a safer space together, where com munity and insights about ArtScience as well as the oceanic topics chosen for the Exquisite Corpse cycles could emerge. - - - - - 2.3. The "Exquisite Corpse" method The Exquisite Corpse is a group method to create a collec tion of connected artworks. It establishes a playful con tainer for an emotionally engaging space where participants can collectively explore a topic through - - Figure 1. Overview of the action cycles of this project including topic and participants of each cycle. Each of the three action cycles followed the same pattern of planning, acting, observing, and reflecting on the given topic (in italics) where the insights gained from each cycle were incorporated in the following one. a plurality of perspectives. Beyond exploration, the aim is to surface underlying values and emerging insights openly in a group setting. The Exquisite Corpse method used in this project was developed by working writer Roz Ray in 2010 inspired by the art exercise pioneered by the Surrealists Yves Tanguy, Jacques Pre ´vert, Andre ´ Br eton, and Marcel Duchamp in the 1920s (Ray, 2025). In the original exercise, the surrealists wrote several lines of poetr y on a piece of paper, then folded back wha t they had written so that only a single word or short phrase remained visible for the next participant as inspiration. The name “Exquisite Corpse” (cadavre exquis in French) was derived anecdotally from the first time they did this art exercise, which resulted in the line “the exquisite corpse will drink the new wine” (le cadavre exquis boira le vin nouveau). Recently, the Exquisite Corpse principle has gained popu larity and inspired a range of ArtScience projects (de la Fuente, 2020; Januchowski-Hartley et al., 2022), including the one described in this article. - The asynchronous adaptation of the Exquisite Corpse method by Roz Ray that we used in this project differs from the original Surrealist exercises as well as other Exquisite Corpse methods in notable ways. We thus join a long history of Exquisite Corpse devotees and adopters, including artists Frida Kahlo, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Gina Be avers, Eric Croes, and S imone Kahn ( Gotthardt, 2018). Kahn reflects on her experience of using the Exqui site Corpse method saying “[w]e were at once recipients of and con tributors to t he joy of witn essing the s udden appearance of creatures none of us had foreseen, but which we ourselves had nonetheless created” (Kahn, 1998, p. 19). The process of playing also continually leads to new versions of enacting this method, as the whole Exquisite Corpse spirit is based on innovation, unpredict ability, and collaboration (Gotthardt, 2018). Creation in the original Exquisite Corpse Surrealist method and in the version used by de la Fuente (2020) is more focused on random emergence, as each part of the drawing or sen tence does not stand without the overall outcome. - - - In our project, we chose to invite a broad range of media by both scientists and artists to encourage a plural ity of individual expressions. Starting from a common inspirational prompt, each participant creates an artwork; after 2 weeks, the works are exchanged between partici pants, each becoming a new prompt for a subsequent artwork. At the end of the process, all artworks are shared during a virtual “party” to reveal, review, and revel in the collective creation. In this version of the Exquisite Corpse method, creation is both collective and individual as each creation can stand on its own, as well as be a part of the overall outcome and process. In contrast to the approach taken by Januchowski-Hartley et al. (2022), our facilitators, Jung and Owens, were also active participants, as re lationsh ip-building among t he group was one o f the objectives. Even though our collaboration also took place during the first years of the Covid-19 pandemic, our approach was not a direct response to it. However, the lack of in-person meeting opportunities probably contrib uted to the urge to find connection in virtual spaces. Jung, - - - Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/elementa/article-pdf/13/1/00051/913427/elementa.2024.00051.pdf by guest on 22 December 2025 Jung et al: Sensing the Ocean through the Exquisite Corpse ArtScience method Art. 13(1) page 5 of 24 Owens, and Zivian belonged to the #VirtualBlueDecade initiative focused on promoting virtual collaboration and knowledge sharing. Therefore, the asynchronous component and longer timeline with the aim of building community virtually was a core conceptualization of the project from the beginning. 2.4. Projective techniques From a research perspective, the Exquisite Corpse method can be classified as a projective technique (Jung, 2022). In this group of methods, participants are invited to project their feelings, thoughts, memories, and ideas onto an ambiguous stimulus (in this case, the scientific “seed” pre sented along with intentional ambiguities; Section 3.2) with the aim of surfacing their underlying attitudes, values, perspectives, and worldview (Lindzey, 1959; Rabin and Zlotogorski, 1981; Kitzinger and Powell, 1995). This connection betwee n projection and internally held ele ments has been described with an adaptation of the “iceberg” metaphor linking individuals’ external behavior with their internalized worldview (Satir et al., 1991; Innes, 2002), as demonstrated in Figure 2. Through the Exqui site Corpse process, by switching between creating some thing and reflecting on another person’s creations, these internal elements ar e surfaced and shared among the group. Each participant’s perspectives are not compared directly but understood as noncompeting plural realities that can coexist. - - - - 2.5. Positionality statements In line with our ethos and the approach of participatory action research and to situate the insights that have Figure 2. The Exquisite Corpse process for mediating between internal deeply held values and external behavior. This process (shown in dark blue) mediates between a person’s internal deeply held values and external behavior by inviting them to project whatever comes up for them onto an ambiguous stimulus, then express internal elements through external artwork and elicit them further through colle ct ive responses and reflections. Iceberg ico n mad e by Freepik from www. flaticon.com . emerged from our interactions, we provide context on our backgrounds and positionalities to eschew universal claims of our experience. As agents of knowledge produc tion (Taylor, 2005), we come from multiple disciplines of natural and social sciences and diverse artistic practices. Our group is from many different and merged nationali ties and cultural backgrounds, and we have convened online across the Atlantic to connect North America, the Caribbean, and Europe. Some of us work in higher education, others in government, private research institu tions, non-governmental orga nizations, or comm unity associations. This diversity means that we approach our collaboration from a range of circumstances that have affected our preferred ways and capacity to engage, and which are partly reflected in power differences within our group. Seeking more enjoyable interactions and meaning ful outcom es for us as individuals, and as members of institution s and communities, is a common motivation for us (see Figure S1 for selected examples of our motiva tions and experiences). Along with recognition of our diverse positions and experiences of privilege, we identify as part of the “natural” living world and thereby require the same protection and care that we seek for the “ocean.” We see ourselves and each other as bodies of water that are part of the water cycle as well as the systems of neo colonial capitalism (Neimanis, 2019). We came together to decipher our connections especially via critical analysis of the systems that cause our own destruction and in which we are simultaneously complicit. - - - - - - Given that one of our project aims was to strengthen the broader ocean ArtScience community through partic ipation of artists and scientists involved in previous pro jects and disparate initiatives, we also see our practice of co llecti ve meaning creation as a “political act of trans formation” (Neilson and Castro, 2016, p. 214). Due to our varied backgrounds and worldviews, it was important to us to embrace our differences as generative tensions and to view our collaboration as a performative ontological project that creates a holding space or microcosm for plu rality (Gibson-Graham, 2008). While putting this collective aim into practice, we were thus mindful of our individual positionality statements. - - - - Al ek sandra Cherkasheva is a sa tellite oceanographer with a passion for combining art and science, living in Sopot, Poland. Her key ar t and science project was an oceanographic theater, in which participants engaged in the life of oceanic plankton and felt the ocean rhythms. Alison Neilson is a university researcher who identifies as an able-bodied, white, English first-language speaking, cisgender female. Her ocean justice scholarship is done in collaboration with Portuguese-speaking small-scale fish ing communities in the Azores Islands. Her struggles with the impacts of past trauma, while acknowledging the pri vileges she experiences compared to her local collabora tors, inform her understanding of voice, knowledge creation, and the strength of collaborative art to elucidate complex power dynamics. - - - Anna Zivian identifies as a white, able-bodied, cisgen der, heterosexual female now living on the unceded terri tory of the Awaswas-speaking Uypi Tribe as a second/third - - Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/elementa/article-pdf/13/1/00051/913427/elementa.2024.00051.pdf by guest on 22 December 2025 Art. 13(1) page 6 of 24 Jung et al: Sensing the Ocean through the Exquisite Corpse ArtScience method generation Ashkenazi diaspora and first-generation unin vited resident, as well as in Italy. She has been working on questions of knowledge, risk, decision-making, equity, and justice, first from a Science and Technology Studies back ground, then within a white-led ocean conservation orga nization, and now as part of a social science research collective working on ocean equity and justice. While much of her professional work addresses ocea n i ssues, mountains, and desert are in her heart. - - - Camille P arrain is a French geographer living by or at sea, traveling the oceans and islands. Her transdisciplinary sea scape approach connects her to senses, communities, and environment. The stream carries her from the T ropics to the Arctic, from the ocean to the mountains to flow through the diversity and interactions of people and places. - Charlotte Corporeau is a French scientist who has stud ied animal biology for 25 years. She has a background in human physiology and applies her knowledge to study the adaptation of marine organisms to global change. Her life is in nature, with nature and for nature. - Dave Riddell comes to his work in science, education, and community as an Irish immigrant to unceded L e k w e η e n territory. His experiences as a neuroand genderqueer edu cator (and learner) and trauma survivor underpin his work both inside and outside of the classroom. , - Diego Narvaez is a Mexican visual artist living on V ancou ver Island, BC. He is interested in challenging the ways we define landscape, the environment, and nature. Recently, he has expanded his scope by participating in collaboratio ns with people from different disciplines and backgrounds. - Dwight Owens presents as an able-bodied, white, latecareer, native English-speaking, cisgender male living as an uninvited guest on unceded L e k w e η e n territory. He is nei ther an artist nor a scientist, although his work collabora tions are principally grounded in both streams. , - - Jayalaxshmi Mistr y identifies as a brown woman, environmental geographer, and a potter. Her work focuses on combining science and traditional knowledge, with a particular focus on Indigenous rights, fire management, and craft, and with self-determination as a core value. Julia Jung identifies as a white, genderfluid, and queer German and early career ocean scientist currently living on the ancestral and unceded territory of the syilx Okanagan people. Dey have transitioned from marine biology to transdisci plinary ocean ArtScience with a focus on rela tionships within collaborations as well as between human and nonhuman entities. - 3. Process 3.1. Summary of our first two cycles Two groups gathered to enact two independent 6-week Exquisite Corpse cycles in Fall 2022 and Spring 2023. Authors of this article participated in one or both cycles. 3.1.1. Topics The Fall 20 21 cycle focused on ocean hypoxia, which refers to low levels of dissolved oxygen in seawater; severe and sustained hypoxia diminishes fisheries productivity, risks ecosystem collapse, and imposes significant societal and economic costs (Breitburg et al., 2018). Coastal ocean hypoxia can be caused by increased nutrient levels that trigger excessive algal blooms (Diaz and Rosenberg, 2008). When the algae die, sink, and decompose, oxygen is con sumed, creati ng hypoxic conditions. Regions that fre quently exhibit hypoxia incl ude the Gulf of Mexico, Chesapeake Bay, the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea, and other populated areas with high nutrient runoff from agricul ture, urban development, and wastewater. However, nutri ent runoff is not the only mechanism that can produce hypoxia along coastal margins. In August 2021, extreme hypoxia was detected along the southern British Columbia (Canada) continental shelf, with oxygen concentration <60 μmol kg −1 (Franco et al., 2023). The oxygen values recorded during this event were the lowest summertime oxygen values that had ever been recorded at this location, representing a departure from the seasonal climatology of more than 2 standard deviations (Franco et al., 2023). During this hypoxia event, the increase in nutrient levels was due to early and intense upwelling alongside local shifts in seawater density, which brought deep nutrientrich waters to the surface. This nutrient supply triggered an anomalously strong spring phytoplankton bloom, resulting in oxygen depletion well into the pelagic zone (Franco et al., 2023). This 2021 hypoxia event in the Northeast Pacific became the focus for our Fall 2021 cycle. - - - - The phenomenon of hypoxia is not new; throughout the Earth’s history major hypoxic events, often triggered by global climate shifts or volcanic activity, have led to widespread changes in marine ecosystems (Gernon et al., 2024). However, in recent d ecades, a long-term global ocean deoxygenation trend has clearly emerged as an indi rect result of anthropogenic climate change (Breitburg et al., 2018), with particu larly rapid oxygen loss in the Northeast Pacific (Cummins and Ross, 2020; Ross et al., 2020). The hypoxia event described above is thought to reflect the ongoing expansion and shoaling of this regional oxygen minimum zone (Barth et al., 2024). As a consequence of the decreasing oceanic oxygen baseline, extreme low oxygen events are projected to become more frequent and extreme (Gruber et al., 2021). Franco et al. (2023) also conclu ded that as t his trend progresses, increases in frequency of extreme hypoxic events, like the one observed in summer 2021, which was categorized as an extreme anomaly, are likely (Franco et al., 2023). The hypoxia 2021 event was chosen as the seed topic based on data collected by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (Line P and La Perouse campaigns; Fisheries and Oceans C anada, 2025) and the Folger Deep in situ instrument systems of Ocean Networks Canada (Ocean Networks Canada Soci ety, 2023). We wanted to use a prompt based on recently measured indicationsofthisunusual eventtoinvite potential new insights about an at-the-time poorly under stood oceanographic phenomenon that could lend itself to a range of unexpected associations. - - - The Spring 2022 cycle centered around the explosive eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano on January 15, 2022 (Global Volcanism Program, 2022). This extreme ocean event generated a tsunami that inundated portions of Tonga as well as Fiji, American Samoa, Vanuatu, and other Pacific Nations. The eruption was the Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/elementa/article-pdf/13/1/00051/913427/elementa.2024.00051.pdf by guest on 22 December 2025 Jung et al: Sensing the Ocean through the Exquisite Corpse ArtScience method Art. 13(1) page 7 of 24 Table 1. Disciplinary backgrounds reported by Exquisite Corpse participants in Cycles 1 and 2 Cycle Ocean and Environmental Sciences Social Sciences Arts Cycle 1 only a Geographic information systems Wildlife Bio-cultural heritage Ocean outreach and engagement Sustainability None reported Cycle 2 only b Indigenous knowledge c Fisheries Geography Oceanography Indigenous knowledge Human geography Indigenous communications and leadership Ocean justice Indigenous knowledge Visual arts: painting Music technology Theater Both cycles d Marine biology and microbiology Marine biological resource management Education and instructional design Environmental social science Marine social science None reported a Reported by 4 of 7 participants in Cycle 1. b Reported by 8 of 11 participants in Cycle 2. c One Cycle 2 participant identified as belonging to an Indigenous community. Indigenous knowledge has been repeated across all columns because it was deemed by the authors not to fit neatly into categories of physical sciences, social sciences, or arts; rather, many longstanding Indigenous knowledge and traditional knowledge approaches integrate all aspects in the forms of stories and art forms. d Reported by three participants of both cycles. Note that the number of backgrounds exceeds the number of participants as some participants indicated multiple disciplinary backgrounds. largest exp losion recorded b y mode rn instrumentation (Yuen et al., 2022). The seed prompt included local stories and perspectives as well as data and imagery from the event (Owens, 2022a). Here, our aim was to demonstrate the plurality of approaches and experiences from such an extreme ocean event, including scientific data and the resulting global linkages and consequences, but also to stay attuned to the local impacts and realities of this catastrophe. Overall, our intent with the chosen topics was to engage a group of interested artists and scientists in topical extreme ocean events that allowed for connection of local events to the planetar y scale of our ocean. 3.1.2. Participants Participants self-selected following an email invitation dis tributed to people involved in previous ArtScience activi ties of authors Jung and Owens. All participants completed consent forms and initial questionnaires devel oped by Jung and Mistry prior to joining the initial kick-off meeting. At the start of the third action cycle, the consent process was re-imagined collectively with the design of an updated consent form (Form S1). The questionnaires were analyzed by the facilitators, Jung and Owens. - - - Seven participants comprised the Fall 2021 cohort, and 11 the Spring 2022 cohort, with 3 participating in both. The combined groups ranged in age from 26 to 68, with self-identified genders of 56% female, 28% male, and 17% nonbinary. As illustrated in Table 1,participants have expertise in a broad range of disciplines. 3.1.3. Artworks The two cohorts from Cycles 1 and 2 produced artworks in a wide variety of media, as summarized in Figure 3.An example thread extending from a seed image through three derivat ive works created during Cycle 2 is shown in Figure 4. Although some artworks have been incorpo rated into this article, many artworks produced during these cycles were not provided by the artists for broader distribution. The afterlives and ongoing status of these artworks have varied greatly. For example, some case study elements comprising the seed video for Cycle 2 (Figure 4a) have been incorporated into a scientific work shop on ocean data access and visualization. The mixed media work by Neilson (Figure 4b) has been used in a university postgraduate course on social science of the sea, while the edible sculpture created by Zivian (Figure 4c) was consu med shortly after bein g photo graphed. Finally, the dance performed by Cherkash eva (Figur e 4d) inspired the author to dedicate more time to dance art, spurring participation in dance courses and competitions. Some of the works produced in Cycle 2 were submitted to one section of a virtual art show (Figure 5) that was presented at the 2022 American Geophysi cal Union Fall Meeting, and a visual poem, composed by Owens and inspired by these works was shared via You Tube (Owens, 2022b). - - - - 3.1.4. Motivations Prior to each cycle commencing, each participant com pleted a non-anonymous, preprocess sur vey (Form S2) developed by Jung, which detailed a variety of motivations for joining. Initial survey analysis was completed by removing submitter names and grouping responses into clusters. These clusters were reviewed and condensed into summaries, shown in Figure 6 , by the coauthor team during a working session. The summaries include numbers - Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/elementa/article-pdf/13/1/00051/913427/elementa.2024.00051.pdf by guest on 22 December 2025 Art. 13(1) page 8 of 24 Jung et al: Sensing the Ocean through the Exquisite Corpse ArtScience method Figure 3. Media formats of artworks produced by the two Exquisite Corpse cohorts. Colors indicate when the artworks were created: Cycle 1 in Fall 2021 (brown) and Cycle 2 Spring 2022 (blue). Figure 4. Seed image and derivative artworks from one thread in Cycle 2. (a) Satellite image of the Hunga Tonga volcanic eruption. (b) Initial work in the 3-part thread: untitled mixed media work by Neilson. (c) Second work of the 3-part thread, based on image b: an untitled edible sculpture by Zivian. (d) Third work in the 3-part thread showing a still frame from a dance recording performed by Cherkasheva (Video S1). Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/elementa/article-pdf/13/1/00051/913427/elementa.2024.00051.pdf by guest on 22 December 2025 Jung et al: Sensing the Ocean through the Exquisite Corpse ArtScience method Art. 13(1) page 9 of 24 Figure 5. Still frame from the Exquisite Corpse Project presented at the 2022 AGU Fall meeting. This section, appearing as part of the virtual art show during the 2022 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, was generated from Cycle 2 in Spring 2022. The work was produced and curated using Artsteps (Semmens et al., 2022). Figure 6. Bubble diagram inspired by the organic form of salps summarizing motivations for joining the project. Parenthetic numbers indicate total participant mentions for each motivation category; bubble sizes loosely indicate the same. Figure developed by D Narvaez. of mentions for each cluster. The bubble diameter range approximates the range in numbers of mentions. Most participants listed multiple motivations for joining. 3.2. Third action cycle: Collective meaning-making The third action cycle, January 2023 to May 2024, con sisted of the process of collective meaning-making for this article by a subset of participants from both previous cycle s. Building from these cycles, the group sought to - apply aspects of the Exquisite Corpse process to the crea tion of this collective work, which delves into understand ing not only how the Exquisite Corpse process manifests but also how it affects those engaged. - - Sabrina Imbler (2022, p . 175) captured the group’s approach to collective meaning-making while writing and revising this article: “Salps allow each individual to jet at its own pace in the same general direction. It is not as fast as coordinated strokes, but it’s more sustainable long term, each individual sucking and squirting as it pleases. Slow and steady, say the salps. It doesn’t matter how fast we go, only that we all get there in the end. We may all move at different paces, but we will only reach the horizon together.” The bonds that held th e team together were formed during the first two action cycles. Without these bonds in place, the third action cycle would not likely have reached fruition. - Meaning-making sessions were conducted via a series of biweekly or monthly synchronous and co-creative 60–90 min video conferencing sessions between Fall 2022 and Summer 2023. The participants first brainstormed possible pathways forward, including whether to explore further experimentation with the Exquisite C orpse method or engage in a retrospective assessment of the first two cycles and associated insights. The team chose the retrospective approach, and went on to explicate emergent topics and themes, which became the focus subjects for a series of Free W riting workshops led by Owens and Jung, during which participants wrote prose passages and/or created illustra tions summarizing each theme. Subsequent workshops refined and expanded the collective understanding as co authors reviewed and revised one another’s theme - - Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/elementa/article-pdf/13/1/00051/913427/elementa.2024.00051.pdf by guest on 22 December 2025 Art. 13(1) page 16 of 24 Jung et al: Sensing the Ocean through the Exquisite Corpse ArtScience method interconnection that invites us to be in movement with it. This invitation is to open the boundaries that limit, frag ment, and segregate us, even as we remain attuned to our personal limits throughout. - 5. Conclusion Although our experience during this process was highly contextual, some general insights for possible benefits can be extrapolated. Overall, our project is about collectively creating ways of being and working with the ocean based on a changed relationship with the ocean and each other. Using the Exquisite Corpse process, we were able to create a space that enacted elements of these futures that we would like to see in the present (Munoz, 2009). In this final section, we summarize the benefits that have arisen on individual and community-of-practice levels.Then, zooming out to a more systemic level, this section concludes with our perspective on how ArtScience collaborations can con tribute to meeting the challenges of the UN Ocean Decade (Singh et al., 2021; Bender et al., 2022; Jung et al., 2022). There is a growing number of ocean ArtScience projects also related to the UN Ocean Decade, such as the Polar Sounds project. However, as the authors point out, “there is a lackofreflectiononprocess,including ‘whatworked, what didn’t, how the relationship developed’” (Whittaker et al., 2024, p. 5). Therefore, while crucial for changing the public relationship with the ocean, we do not focus on the contributions that ocean ArtScience can make to ocean literacy and science communication, as these have been described elsewhere (e.g., Dupont, 2017; Brennan, 2018; Boswell, 2021; Whittaker, 2023), and instead focus on the development of relationships. - ˜ On an individual level, ArtScience can provide ways of engaging more deeply with ocean s cience and marine conservation topics from an emotional perspective. Among the steady streams of worsening news about cli mate and biodiversity crises, ecological grief is emerging as a common response (Cunsolo and Ellis, 2018). This grief is especially prevale nt among those working on these issues day to day (Clayton, 2018), including scientists working on assessing the status of ocean health or engag ing in restoration efforts. We need practices that can help us engage with and move through those emotions instead of getting stuck in eco-anxiety. While anger can help to move through eco-anxiety and motivate pro-climate activ ism (Stanley et al., 2021), so can engaging in more sensory expression through art (Boswell, 2021). - - - As recently argued by Schipper et al. (2024), there is a need to create safer spaces for climate scientists to engage with potential feelings of grief and anxiety, as those “emotions can help ensure that these changes are not normalized; that is, the ide a of the ‘new normal’ should not include accepting loss of species, habitats, ecosystem functioning or human lives as normal” (Schipper et al., 2024, p. 1011). Similarly, Bercht and Sandner Le Gall (2025) highlight the emotional complexities of conduct ing fieldwork, especially in climate-vulnerable communi ties. They suggest developing resilience-building strategies, cultivating support networks and setting up awareness programs to engage more proactive and - - comprehensive emotional responses to fieldwork (Bercht and Sandner Le Gall, 2025). ArtScience initiatives create opportunities to engage with these emotions. Therefore, we propose the Exquisite Corpse process as one such method that coul d meet the needs for the creation of safe(r) spaces and the form of emotional engagement called for by Schipper et al. (2024) and Bercht and Sand ner Le Gall (2025). Apart from expressing oneself, having the opportunity to connect with others and to be wit nessed and inspired by one another can help us process and even reveal meaning in climate grief and eco-anxiety (Stanley et al., 2021), thereby creating a form of support group. This mode of connection can emerge specifically through the process of creating and sharing art collec tively. Collective artmaking can serve as a media tor for low-stakes vulnerability, as it focuses on the embodied experience of engaging deeply with the topic of the art work, affording the opportunity for personal transforma tion (Lev, 2020). - - - - - Beyond engendering a sense of belonging, s hared endeavor, and kinship, engagement with the art itself can be a catalyst for these connections, as it can mediate social relationships (Myers, 2004). Artistic exercises like the Exquisite Corpse can bridge physical and imagined spaces—starting from scientifi c da ta and current ocean events but then moving inward to our emotional responses about them or our projections into the future (Lindzey, 1959; Rabin and Zlotogorski, 1981; Lev, 2020). They can provide outlets for our hopes and fears, thoughts, and perspectives (Innes, 2002). Specifically, these outlets can mean more concrete opportunities to envision the futures we hope for (Mun oz, 2009; Tosca et al., 2021) or to express our grief and concerns for ocean and human health threatened by the interconnected cri ses we face (Cunsolo and Ellis, 2018; Waters et al., 2024). As also stressed by Schipper et al. (2024), vulnerability is “often a catalyst for not only courage and strength but critical for increasingly needed innovation that can improve, strengthen and transform rese arch and meth odologies” (Schipper et al. 2024, p. 1011). Sharing these journeys into our thoughts and minds and witnessing one another in the process can create intimacy and connection (Lev, 2020) and create empathy for others’ points of view, building trust (Preece, 2004). This trust can strengthen social bonds even within other wise loosely c onnected communities of practice (Clark and Mills, 1979). Such social bonds can provide emotional support and a sense of shared purpose, which are necessary elements for build ing individual mental resilience and fostering collective action to help process climate grief and eco-anxiety (Clay ton, 2018). Beyond these emotional benefits, more obvi ous ones include the opportunity to network, gain insight into new perspectives to animate our own research, try out and build new artistic skills, a nd engage in selfreflection. The opportunity for self-reflection is recognized increasingly as a crucial skill for more holistic and ethical ocean science and marine conservation (Beck et al., 2021). - ˜ - - - - The individual relationships within a group also build and affect trust in ArtScience communities and collabora tions. Mediating from the individual to the community - Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/elementa/article-pdf/13/1/00051/913427/elementa.2024.00051.pdf by guest on 22 December 2025 Jung et al: Sensing the Ocean through the Exquisite Corpse ArtScience method Art. 13(1) page 17 of 24 perspective, there are different interacting types of trust within communities: interpersonal trust between commu nity members and collective trust in the community itself (Costa et al., 2018). ArtScience collaborations in the form of participatory exercises like the Exquisite Corpse method can increase relational trust (or emotional connection) by creating an environment that surfaces plural values and perspectives non-confrontationally. The increase in rela tional trust also has community-wide effects beyond the intrapersonal relationships (McAllister, 1995). Trust is cru cial for communities of practice as it improves the quality and quantity of kno wledge-sharing (H olste an d Fields, 2005; Usoro et al., 2007), which is one of the most impor tant bases for communities to catalyze innovation and create paradigm shifts (Ehrlic hman, 2021). Additionally, endeavors like the Exquisite Corpse method that put plu rality into practice can help communities create more welcoming spaces for diverse participants. For a commu nity o f prac tice, s uch col laborati ons ca n also provide opportunities to connect with other, larger networks. For example, members of our group have been invited to share emerging insights and potentially organize similar Exquisite Corpse-style activities with the Ocean Knowl edge Action Network (2025) and TBA21–Academy (Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, 2025). - - - - - - - On a systemic level, there are many ways in which the different possible dimensions of ArtScience collaborations and the emerging relationships from them can contribute to addressing the challenges of the UN Ocean Decade (Jung et al., 2022; Whittaker, 2023). Apart from challenge 10—Changing humanity’s relationship with the ocean— ArtScience collaborations can contribute to addressing the other challenges in a more holistic way. Returning to Esco bar’s concept of pluriversality of knowledges (Escobar, 2018), ocean ArtScience can foreground holistic engage ment with the ocean beyond natural science perspectives (Boswell, 2021). Art-based methods can help to give voice to perspectives that have been m arginalized (CapousDesyllas and Morgaine, 2018), e sp ecially Indigenous knowledges and perspectives (Strand et al., 2022). Collec tive art-based partic ipator y me thods can help create shared visions of futures that we would like to see (Clover et al., 2020) and that, even though they may seem uto pian, are still rooted in the present. These visions might include societal transformations that seem impossible now and yet are visions shared among a specific group of people in the moment and therefore in a way also being enacted in the moment (Munoz, 2009; Brown, 2015). - ˜ - - - Much of our exploration of the Exquisite Corpse process has prompted us to reflect on our collective and individual relationships with the ocean.While our common reflections and conversations have happened via video calls, the pro cess prompted us to engage from a more embodied per spective—to seek out the ocean in each of our contexts and engage in a more affective rather than solely rational way and continue enacting those utopian moments in our own contexts (Shefer and Bozalek, 2022). This type of engage ment promotes an active, creative, and embodied approach to creating collective meaning and understanding (Clover et al., 2016). Within the framework of this project and - - - similar initiatives, positive outcomes play out over longer time scales as relationships and people evolve and grow. The results continue to unfold through years, creating new opportunities and meanings. For example, the project influ enced Cherkasheva to change the way she was conducting oceanographic measurements in the Arctic where making such measurements can be challenging. As a result of par ticipating in the Exquisite Corpse project, Cherkasheva began using more experimental methods instead of tradi tional approaches to estimate phytoplankton productivity in the Arctic (Cherkasheva et al., 2025). - - - Another example of follow-on impacts occurred for Owens, for whom engagement in this project inspired an active deter mination to seek oppo rtunities and venues to promote artists and their work within scientific contexts. This determin ation led to his instrument al role in coordinating two ocean ArtScience-themed major plenaries at the Amer ican Geophysical Union annual conferences, featuring film maker Rebeca Mendez’ work The Sea Around Us in 2023 and sculptor Courtney Mattison’s coral reef works in 2024. Mean while, exposure to the Hunga Tonga volcano explosion seed for Exquisite Corpse Cycle 2 ledtoOwens’co-creation and delivery of a technical workshop on data access and visual ization centered on the Hunga Tonga case study. - ´ - - - For visual artist Diego Narvaez, the experiences lived by collaborating with this group have inspired him to lead collaborative drawing exercises. An example of this type of interaction occurred when a group of youth from Tuk toyaktuk, Northwest Territories, Canada, visited Narvaez' s studio, whe re the y were able to work on a multistage drawing using the forest as a stimulus to brainstorm about their relationships with the surroundings. Participants were encouraged to use the frottage technique to collect samplesof texturesfound in theforesttothen create a landscape by cutting and pasting others’ textures into a collective composition. The composition was again revis ited and transformed by further drawing. Working toward the unknown, letting go of previous ideas and working over someone else’s creation are important outcomes of the Exquisite Corpse process, which inspired the creation of this drawing activity. As with the Exquisite Corpse, the group reflection on both the final drawing and the process was vital for t he participants to understand the impor tance of collective work. - - - For Jung, the wish to carry the Exquisite Corpse project to deir local communities and the hopeful development of this project led dem to organize more Exquisite Corpse projects in different contexts. Jung organized two Exqui site Corpse projects as preconference networking oppor tunities for the International Conference for Young Marine Resear chers (ICYMARE) based in Germ any in 2022 and 2023. These projects led to the establishment of an “ICYMARE Art Project” as a core conference component. This project was continued in 2024 by other members of the ICYMARE team even though Jung has since left the ICYMARE core team, moving abroad to start deir PhD in an interdisciplinary sustainability program. Deir PhD work itself also builds on this project, as it focuses directly on the role of relationships in transdisciplinary collaborations and communities of practice. - - Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/elementa/article-pdf/13/1/00051/913427/elementa.2024.00051.pdf by guest on 22 December 2025 Art. 13(1) page 18 of 24 Jung et al: Sensing the Ocean through the Exquisite Corpse ArtScience method 5.1. Gratitudes and undercurrents In this final section, we reflect on the undercurrents that brought us to writing this article and express our grati tudes to those who have influenced us. Although we came to this work from several perspectives and with different motivations, there were also shared undercurrents that led to this writing and that in general enable transdisciplinary collaborations like ours. Katherine McKittrick has devel oped a practice of scrolling a continuous loop of images of ideas, places, people, and objects that have shaped her thinking during public talks. For her (as for us), this approach is a w ay to ackno wledge “how I know what I know, where I know from, who I know from, and what I cannot possibly know. [ ... ] W hile I feel I know my research fields intimately, how I came to know these fields is fading, so I revisit and recontextualize. At the same time, this history, my memory, is overlaid by newer research questions, texts, images, events, places, people” (McKittrick, 2020, p. 14). We consider these people, places, ideas, and other forms of inspiration as “undercurrents”— elements that you might not see from the paper’s surface, but that have non etheless influenced ever y word and shaped every insight, enabling and inspiring us. As a sim ilar form of appreciation and acknowledgement, we offer our gratitude in Figure 10. To further illustrate what we mean, we provide the following exemplary vignettes of selected elements from our gratitude ecosystem. - - - Figure 10. Our gratitude ecosystem, where primary elements include textual homage to our sources of inspiration. The Octopus has been enlarged to enable the reader to review textual overlays. Full size image is included as Figures S3–S7. B ase image components created using Night Cafe; figure developed by D. Narvaez. Jung: “I want to extend my deep gratitude to Thomas Sanborn and Julieta Vigliano Relva – Tom was the one who originally introduced me to the Exquisite Corpse project and with whom I did practical exercises that enabled me to take this and my art seriously and to embark on this project. Julieta first introduced me to the ideas of Escobar; conversa tions with her invited the idea of plurality to resonate deeply with me. Without practice and conversation with Tom and Julieta, I would not have been able to engage with these ideas. Thinking about Northern Gannets for me has meant leaning into an image of contradictions that has enabled me to find a way to write this piece and engage in this project. These sea birds inspire in me a sense of flying around until I see something that strikes me, trusting that intuition and going for the dive, knowing that it might be painful and look silly. Despite such inhibiting factors, the gannets urge me to follow through toward that fishy something underneath the surface, which I might catch. The way of relating to this image is more than something just to acknowledge with thanks. Sharing it reveals an undercurrent for a way of relat ing to this project and the ocean, whic h is why I write it here.” - - Turning the focus toward our collaboration as co authors, we offer this collective poem written during our final writing workshop that expresses our shared experi ence and gratitude for each other: - - From different shores, with different words, different tools Expressing our inner and scientific journey, Brightening the perspectives, Integrating our communities Rewriting our stories Dissolving into darkness, Finding luminescence, Gathered round fire, A space is created for interaction to bloom Into unexpected discoveries From creation to destruction, our own stories surprised us when summarized Retrieving and re-collecting memories like seashells - Colors shifting as the water dries, new reflections constantly emerging Walking from sea to shore, ascending from land to sky; advancing and retreating like the tides, exploring the liminal Feeling the sand in my feet, the sea salt in my nose, hearing the waves in my ears, the turtle turned and led me on Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/elementa/article-pdf/13/1/00051/913427/elementa.2024.00051.pdf by guest on 22 December 2025 Jung et al: Sensing the Ocean through the Exquisite Corpse ArtScience method Art. 13(1) page 19 of 24 Into the ocean, I am entering new worlds, new depths – but suddenly, I realize I am not alone Thank you my playmates, What fun it is to be the ocean with you. Supplemental files The supplemental files fo r this article can be found as follows: Supplemental Material.docx Acknowledgments Ocea n Networks Canada and the University of Victoria acknowledge with respect the L e kw e η e n peoples on whose traditional territory the university stands and the Songhees, Esquimalt and WSANEC ´ peoples whose histor ical relationships with the land and the Ocean continue to this day. The authors also would like to thank Dr Andrea Berardi for his support in developing this project and the late Dr. S. Kim Juniper for his support for this and many other ArtScience endeavors and whose inspiring legacy we hope to build upon. - ´ Funding Aleksandra Cherkasheva’s contribution was supported by theEuropeanUnion’s Horizon2020researchand innovation programme under grant agreement No. 869383 (ECOTIP) and by the European Union’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 101136748 (BioEcoOcean) . Alison Neilson’s work was supported by the Portuguese Foun dation for Science and Technology (FCT) CEEC INST 2018, - https://doi.org/10.54499/CEECINST/00102/ 2018/CP1567/CT0030 . Dwight Owens’ work was sup ported by Ocean Networks Canada under funding pro vided by the Canada Foundation for Innovation, Canada’s Advanced Research and Innovation Network (CANARIE), the University of Victoria, the Digital Research Alliance of Canada and the Government of British Columbia a nd the Government of Canada. Julia Jung’s work was supported by Ocean Networks Canada and the Cobr a Collective. - - Competing interests The authors have no competing interests to declare. 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Deming, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA Knowledge Domain: Ocean Science Part of an Elementa Special Feature: The Art-Science Interface Exemplified by Ocean Memory Published: December 16, 2025 Accepted: September 27, 2025 Submitted: August 2, 2024 Copyright: © 2025 The Author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. Elem Sci Anth is a peer-reviewed open access journal published by University of California Press. Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/elementa/article-pdf/13/1/00051/913427/elementa.2024.00051.pdf by guest on 22 December 2025