Past Exhibitions

Meditation Ocean Constellation: Meditation Ocean

Artist Residency | World Premiere

A dimly lit gallery space with four large screens projecting scuba divers meditating among coral reefs. Three visitors sit in meditation on round cushions on the floor.

Meditation Ocean works for climate justice through underwater meditations and land-based actions, prompting us to consider the interdependence of human and environmental healing.

Conceived and directed by Hope Ginsburg, this exhibition is the culmination of her two-year Artist Residency Award and decades-long relationship with the center, including our Film/Video Studio. A collaborative, iterative project, Meditation Ocean was made by the Meditation Ocean Constellation, which comprises artists, writers, educators, meditators, musicians, curators, divers, and scientists.

The heart of the exhibition is M.O. Turtlegrass Meadow (2023), a large-screen, six-channel video installation that creates an immersive ocean environment, inviting contemplation and engagement. Shot over four days in the Florida Keys’ Biscayne National Park, the work captures eight meditating scuba divers as they “breathe with” ocean wildlife, rising from the seabed to float in meditation. Ten prerecorded, commissioned scripts allow audiences to join the divers in meditative practice within the installation.

Curated by Film/Video Studio Curator Jennifer Lange, this exhibition is accompanied by a series of related programs, workshops, and events. Developed collaboratively with our Department of Learning & Public Practice, they include the meditation series Breathe. A gallery guide will feature a preface by Jennifer Lange and texts by Melody Jue and Anaïs Duplan.

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A dimly lit gallery space with four large screens projecting scuba divers meditating among coral reefs. Three visitors sit in meditation on round cushions on the floor.

Meditation Ocean Constellation: Meditation Ocean, installation view at the Wexner Center, photo: Stephen Takacs.

A dimly lit gallery space surrounded by five large, curved screens projecting scuba divers meditating on the ocean floor. Round cushions are distributed throughout the space.

Meditation Ocean Constellation: Meditation Ocean, installation view at the Wexner Center, photo: Stephen Takacs.

A dimly lit gallery space features four large, staggered screens projecting scuba divers meditating among coral reefs. Round cushions are distributed throughout the space.

Meditation Ocean Constellation: Meditation Ocean, installation view at the Wexner Center, photo: Stephen Takacs.

In a dimly lit gallery space, three large, curved screens project beds of coral reefs and sponges, along with scuba divers meditating on the ocean floor. Round cushions are on the floor.

Meditation Ocean Constellation: Meditation Ocean, installation view at the Wexner Center, photo: Stephen Takacs.

Six meditating scuba divers float, holding hands, forming a ring. They hover over a seabed, which is covered in turtlegrass.

Meditation Ocean Constellation, M.O. Turtlegrass Meadow, 2023 (still). Six-channel video installation with sound, 67 mins. looped. Image courtesy of Hope Ginsburg.

Two scuba divers hover in meditation over the turtlegrass meadow of the Atlantic seabed. A soft coral sways in the foreground.

Meditation Ocean Constellation, M.O. Turtlegrass Meadow, 2023 (still). Six-channel video installation with sound, 67 mins. looped. Image courtesy of Hope Ginsburg.

A diver with a bright pink mask floats in lotus position with schools of fish above a hard coral reef. Another diver floats in the background.

Meditation Ocean Constellation, M.O. Turtlegrass Meadow, 2023 (still). Six-channel video installation with sound, 67 mins. looped. Image courtesy of Hope Ginsburg.

A hard coral reef with large sea fan at the top. A menagerie of fish including trumpetfish, bluestriped grunts, blue tangs, and porkfish swim around the reef.

Meditation Ocean Constellation, M.O. Turtlegrass Meadow, 2023 (still). Six-channel video installation with sound, 67 mins. looped. Image courtesy of Hope Ginsburg.

A group of divers kneels in embodied awareness practice in a meadow of turtlegrass, the seabed of Biscayne National Park in the upper Florida Keys.

Meditation Ocean Constellation, M.O. Turtlegrass Meadow, 2023 (still). Six-channel video installation with sound, 67 mins. looped. Image courtesy of Hope Ginsburg.

Two scuba divers hover in meditation over the turtlegrass meadow of the Atlantic seabed. A soft coral sways in the foreground.

Meditation Ocean Constellation, M.O. Turtlegrass Meadow, 2023 (still). Six-channel video installation with sound, 67 mins. looped. Image courtesy of Hope Ginsburg.

More about the Meditation Ocean Constellation

Meditation Ocean Constellation chevron-down chevron-up

Each iteration of Meditation Ocean is the result of a collaborative ecology. The constellation that created M.O. Turtlegrass Meadow includes the following.

Hope Ginsburg, Artist/Director
Jennifer Lange, Curator/Producer
Matt Flowers, Director of Photography
Alexis McCrimmon, Editor and Colorist
Joshua Quarles, Composer and Sound Recordist
Jim McNeal, Dive Safety Officer
Dionne Custer Edwards, Director of Learning & Public Practice
Tracie McCambridge, Director of Art & Resilience
Emily Haidet, Manager of Community, Public, and Academic Programs
Sarah Robison, Manager of Teaching, Learning, and Interpretive Practices
Stephen Jones, Exhibition Design Engineer
David Dickas, Exhibition Designer
Sarah Howard, Dive Team Captain
Bob Ballard, Dive Team
Steve Peloquin, Dive Team
Rachel Stewart, Diving with a Purpose, Dive Team
Riane Tyler, Diving with a Purpose, Dive Team, Meditation Script Writer
Mary Boltz, Dive Guide
Oscar Fleites, Boat Captain
Chelsea McLaughlin, Boat First Mate
Lily Cox-Richard and Michael Jevon Demps, Library of Radical Returns, Meditation Script Writers
Nicolás Dumit, Estévez Raful, Espejo Ovalles, The Interior Beauty Salon, Meditation Script Writers
Forest–Body–Chair and Mildred’s Lane Session Fellows: Gina Siepel, Session Coleader; Julia O. Bianco; Joe Lerro; Rachel Schmoker; Ainsley Steeves; Samiha Tasnim; Ruby Waldo; and Lotte Kliros Walworth; Meditation Script Writers
Brad Fox, Meditation Script Writer
Rachel Hilton, Yoga Scope, Meditation Script Writer
GM Keaton, Meditation Script Writer
Tifani Kendrick, Meditation Script Writer
Monique McCrystal and Deja Redman, Replenish, Meditation Script Writers
Fiona Middleton, Meditation Script Writer
Sara Smith, Meditation Script Writer
Naoko Wowsugi, Meditation Script Writer
Melody Jue, Writer
Anaïs Duplan, Writer
Matthew Barger, Vocalist
Olivia Carlton, Vocalist
Lauren Maho, Vocalist
Jesse Roberts, Vocalist
Julia Harth, Learning Guide Researcher
Amanda Tobin Ripley, Learning Guide Researcher
Kendall Markley, Graphic Designer
Nisiqi, Graphic Designer
Nia Snelling, Art & Resilience Student Leader
Sophia Buskirk, Art & Resilience Student Leader
Deidre Hoguet, Designtex, Materials Designer
Jerry Marshall, Upholsterer

Meditation Ocean Constellation: Meditation Ocean is organized by the Wexner Center for the Arts and curated by Film/Video Studio Curator Jennifer Lange. 

THIS PRESENTATION MADE POSSIBLE BY
Women & Philanthropy at The Ohio State University

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY
National Endowment for the Arts
Designtex, New York, NY 

WINTER/SPRING EXHIBITIONS MADE POSSIBLE BY
Cardinal Health
Karen R. Lane
Nancy and Dave Gill 

EXHIBITION 2022–23 SEASON MADE POSSIBLE BY
Bill and Sheila Lambert
The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts
Carol and David Aronowitz
Crane Family Foundation
Mike and Paige Crane

FREE GALLERIES MADE POSSIBLE BY
American Electric Power Foundation
Adam Flatto
Mary and C. Robert Kidder
Bill and Sheila Lambert

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT FOR FREE GALLERIES PROVIDED BY
CoverMyMeds
PNC Foundation

WEXNER CENTER PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY
Greater Columbus Arts Council
The Wexner Family
National Endowment for the Arts
Ohio Arts Council
L Brands Foundation
The Columbus Foundation
Nationwide Foundation
Institute of Museum and Library Services
Vorys, Sater, Seymour, and Pease

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY
Mike and Paige Crane
Axium Packaging
CampusParc
Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams
President Kristina M. Johnson and Mrs. Veronica Meinhard
Nancy Kramer
Larry and Donna James
Lisa Barton
Johanna DeStefano
Jones Day
Alex and Renée Shumate

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Past Exhibitions

Meditation Ocean Constellation: Meditation Ocean