Limacina Helicina Antarctica – The Butterfly Effect, 2017 and 2020

Debbie Symons’ Limacina Helicina Antarctica – The Butterfly Effect explores the impact of changing ocean chemistry on a small but ecologically vital mollusc species, Limacina Helicina Antarctica, commonly known as the sea butterfly.

Occupying a foundational position within the marine food web, this delicate species is highly sensitive to ocean acidification. As pH levels decline, the availability of calcium carbonate declines, leading to weakening, cracking, and dissolution of their shells—an effect with broader implications for ocean ecosystems.
New York, Times Square installation image of an environmental artwork by Debbie Symons exploring ocean acidification and its impact on sea butterfly shells.
Image: The Butterfly Effect exhibited in New York, Times Square 2020. 
 

The Butterfly Effect examines the interconnected relationship between environmental degradation and free-market capitalism. As atmospheric carbon dioxide levels continue to rise, these organisms, integral to marine biodiversity, exhibit increasing signs of stress, reflecting the wider consequences of human-driven climate change.

Drawing on contemporary scientific research, the work foregrounds the fragility of Antarctic ecosystems, inviting viewers to reconsider the impacts of global environmental change within one of the Earth’s remaining ‘wild’ regions. Through this lens, the work underscores the urgency of addressing the cascading effects of ocean acidification on both microscopic life and the broader ecological systems they sustain.

The Butterfly Effect is a HD Video work. Run time 5:11 minutes.

Close-up image of a sea butterfly (Limacina helicina antarctica), showing its delicate, translucent shell and wing-like appendages used for swimming.

 

Exhibition history for Limacina Helicina Antarctica – The Butterfly Effect

Ocean Imaginaries, RMIT Gallery, City campus, Swanston Street, Melbourne. Part of CLIMARTE’s Art+Climate=Change, 2017 Festival

Fossil – a slow-acting violence, 2017. Stephen McLauglanGallery, Melbourne

Finalist, Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize, 2019, Gordon, NSW

ZAZ10TS, Times Square, Gallery and Urban Screen, 2020, New York, USA

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