Into the Mysterium cover photo, Michele Oka Doner.
Photo provided by Michele Oka Doner.
The Miami Book Fair 2016 is on deck for Nov. 13 through 20. Considered the largest national literary book event, this eight-day all encompassing scholarly marathon never disappoints at any level. Held at Miami Dade College downtown campus, 450 authors will discuss their latest offerings, from the "Evenings With" series throughout the week, culminating in all day back-to back talks during the weekend street fair.
One of the Book Fair’s esteemed speakers will be renowned Miami born artist Michele Oka Doner presenting her sumptuous topical new book, "Into the Mysterium" on Nov. 19 at 11 a.m. in MDC’s 300 N.E. Second Ave. venue. This artist has peered through the looking glass, imparting her visual awareness through the medium of photography, recording nearly 100 rare and endangered sea creatures and their secret habitat.
Discovering a museum devoted to the study of Atlantic and Eastern Pacific marine invertebrates, Oka Doner became privy to the collection of Nancy Voss, professor emeritus and director of the Marine Invertebrate Museum at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science at the University of Miami.
Invertebrate Museum, U of M.
Photo provided by Michele Oka Doner.
Close to a million sea creatures occupy the internationally recognized and certified research facility. The Marine Invertebrate Museum is a result of fifty years of work by Voss and her late husband, Gilbert. Oka Doner proceeded to document portions of this collection for all to experience from her sensitive handling of yet another precarious segment of our global environment. Oka Doner’s latest impactful foray into nature comes alive with an up close and personal account of what is to be seen in Voss’ magical chamber. Oka Doner reflected on the intensity of “seeing it all as an ‘installation’ (her word) of extraordinary beauty, interest and magic.”
“The aggregate of looking at 90,000 jars teeming with life forms with variations of a theme was so overwhelming at first.”
“My job was to transform something natural into another level of visual or philosophical so people could see it.”
We swam deeper into this mysterious topic.
Irene Sperber: Are they all endangered?
Michele Oka Doner: “ Some (not all) are endangered by pollution, the warming temperatures or losing their habitat. They are a record of over half a century of what’s been in the water that we don’t see that’s supporting the life around us. We rely on it; there’s so much we take for granted.”
Sea Lily, from Into the Mysterium.
Photo provided by Michele Oka Doner.
Upon my inquiry, Oka Doner informed me that the word mysterium just “fell out of my mouth one day.” I looked up the word “mysterium” to understand more fully the implications of her chosen title, Into the Mysterium: “a hypothetical substance to which a galactic radio emission at 1665 megahertz was formerly attributed, later identified as an exceptionally strong component of a set of four spectral lines emitted by hydroxyl radicals in interstellar space.” (English Oxford dictionary) So. Now that we know . . .
Along with photography, Oka Doner’s long and August career has found expression in sculpture, furniture, jewelry, video, costume, set design and public art. The gorgeous terrazzo flooring at the North Terminal at Miami Airport is from the fertile mind of this artist, as well as the sculpture, Micco, headlining the public square in Doral.
IS: With science and nature a strong element in all your projects, where did this melding of two seemingly disparate interests come about?
MOD: “I started out wanting to be a scientist.”
“I had a moment of truth in 10th grade biology. I did an experiment on marigolds for a science fair, planting them" . . . “with different ingredients. I was very happy with the outcome because I really saw the difference in the plants.”
Jars from Marine Invertebrate Museum, U of M.
Photo provided by Michele Oka Doner.
“I designed a wooden box that looked like a large flowerpot” (for the marigolds). “On the flat part, I put my material and drawings that explained my experiment.”
It was such an artistic presentation the science teacher thought she should take it to the art room.
MOD: “Clearly I had devoted myself to a visual presentation, so unlike the others” she added. And a career was born: art meets science equals a successful life’s work.
“I understood how much I loved biology and science, but I also understood I had a strong impulse to create things in my life to make them be something I connected to.”
“How do I create something to explore an idea.”
“How do I express the excitement of the discovery.”
IS: “Looking at your beautiful images, I have to ask about your work environment.”
MOD: “I like it quiet. I love silence”
Ah, yes. We see that. It calms us to come upon her pieces each and every time.
IS: “Growing up in Miami near the sea, we can understand the impact, but what else was a great influence?”
MOD: “I found in Michigan another layer of languaging. The ancient internal sea, the Devonian Sea”. . . “that left old shells and creatures. I found myself fossil hunting throughout the region of Michigan, Ohio and Ontario.”
Poster from Into the Mysterium.
Photo provided by Michele Oka Doner.
“I studied Islamic art with Oleg Grabar when I was in college and graduate school. I learned so much about how to arrange things, about patterns; look at the airport floor (her work in the North Terminal). The mosques in Istambul and Iran, they didn’t know how to build without being heavy, so they had to take away the sense of heavy with tile work and pattern dissolving space, the airport floor does the same. It moves the eye around.”
Oka Doner summed up "Into the Mysterium": “It’s a wonderfully layered nuanced book, but concisely contained in a small box for such a big idea. It’s an artist’s interpretation of a collection by a couple (the Voss’s) over half a century from collecting in our waters.”
The artist commented on her experience working with professor Nancy Voss: “She’s so generous and knowledgable and launched so many students, yet has never appeared in a Miami public setting. It is good to know her.”
See Michele Oka Doner at the Miami Book Fair discuss her book "Into the Mysterium: A Photographic Journey Revealing Wondrous Marine Creatures We May Never See Again," with moderator Victoria Rogers, Vice President Arts, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Miss it at your peril. (Marine Invertebrate Museum is not open to the public.) Saturday, Nov. 19, 11 a.m. to noon.
Bldg 8, 2 floor, 300 NE Second Ave., Miami
For more on the subject of sea creatures (and many many other topics) Miami Book Fair is awash in authors covering a myriad of topics:
- Join the discussion of ethologist Jonathan Balcombe and theoretical astrophysicist Priyamvada Natarajan on the titled topic "As Above, Below: Two Scientists on the Heavens and the Seas." Balcombe is the author of "What a Fish Knows," disclosing the surprising capabilities of fishes. Author Priyamvada Natarajan penned her "Mapping the Heavens: The Radical Scientific Ideas That Reveal the Cosmos," on cosmological discoveries. Saturday, Nov. 19 at noon, 2 floor, 300 NE Second Ave., Miami
- Albert C. Hine, professor of geological oceanography will discuss his book "A Geological History of Florida." "Sea Level Rise in Florida: Science, Impacts, and Options," written with Don P. Chambers, Tonya D. Clayton, Mark R. Hafen, and Gary T. Mitchum on Sunday, Nov. 20, 2 p.m., 2 floor, 300 NE Second Ave
I do hope you became a Friend of the Book Fair already as it will ease the experience. It can be a tad daunting (totally and sublimely worth every moment) if you do not do your homework. The talks are popular so be aware. There are also year around events. Be sure to peruse the web site or you’ll miss things. www.miamibookfair.com
A Preview of the fair will take place Nov. 10, 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. at Books & Books Wynwood, 2602 NW 5th Avenue. Visit the site to RSVP.
Miami Book Fair,
Nov. 13 to 20,
Miami Dade College Downtown Wolfson campus,
Directions: www.miamibookfair.com/parking/,
Ticketing: www.miamibookfair.com/ticketing-information/,
Admission to the street fair: Friday, November 18: FREE,
Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 19 and 20: $8,
13 to 18 and over 62: $5 / 12 and under: FREE,
Tickets: Opening Event with Trevor Noah, Lip Service: True Stories Out Loud and Special Event with Senator Bernie Sanders (Nov. 19) are now available.
Other highlights: James Carville, Maureen Dowd, Jeffrey Toobin (see web site for full line up).
