Submarine Gardens, Flinders Pier, FBBB

November 2022

FBBB Front Beach Back Beach was an ambitious public art project that took place in November 2022, bringing together the diverse communities, cultures and landscapes of the Mornington Peninsula. Eighteen leading Australian artists were commissioned to make new work in response to extraordinary sites, histories and communities of this spectacular region south of Melbourne.

With my work Submarine Gardens I intended to highlight Flinders Pier as a threatened habitat of the Weedy Seadragon. Whilst such a rich submarine ecosystem exists below sea level, so much remains hidden from general audiences, its splendour reserved for divers. My aim was to draw attention to such unique local underwater spaces and make the invisible portion of Flinders Pier visible to the visitor. By hybridising the camouflage pattern of the Weedy Seadragon with the high-vis orange of the local pilot boat, I developed graphics for various formats of signage. These signposts guided the visitors throughout the larger historical precinct of Flinders Pier to the site at the end of the pier.

Binoculars for visitors to discover the signposted way down the stairs and towards the end of Flinders Pier. My Submarine Garden Project was displayed underneath the pier.

Divers Myra Kelly and Paolo Bottari gave talks about their experiences and observations of the underwater environment at the site. People were encouraged to snorkel underneath the pier.

Banner featuring photos and information about marine invertebrates, the Weedy Seadragon and ecological communities present on Flinders Pier pylons and in this area of Westernport. photos: Myra Kelly and Paolo Bottari text: Vera Möller

Vera Möller Submarine Garden Project, Flinders Pier , FBBB, 2022.