Alexandra Eason
History through a Florida Estuary
History through a Florida Estuary is a series of artist’s books exploring the environmental history of Tampa Bay through paper replicas of natural objects and informational specimen tags. Mangrove seeds, oyster shells, sea grasses, and mollusk shells created from molded paper are separated into three book-like boxes, each collection highlighting a different period of Tampa Bay’s history. Attached to each paper specimen is a corresponding tag carrying fragments of historical information. These specimen tags detail how natural life within Tampa Bay’s estuaries have been impacted by the rise and fall human settlement in the area, and the natural world has impacted the lives of the people who live there. Using Tampa Bay as an environmental history case study, History through a Florida Estuary emphasizes how the natural world has influenced human lives throughout history.
Three artist’s books laid open on a sandy shoreline of Tampa Bay. Each book contains information on the inside cover about one of three estuarine habitats: mangrove forests, oyster reefs, and seagrass beds. Paper objects are positioned within the inside of the books.
Overview of Book #1. The left side contains information about mangroves and their ecological role in an estuary. The right side contains tagged paper versions of red mangrove seeds, mollusk shells, and an oyster shell.
Overview of Book #2. The left side contains information about oyster reefs and their ecological role in an estuary. The right side contains tagged paper versions of oyster shells, a mollusk shell, a mangrove seed, and manatee grass.
Overview of Book #3. The left side contains information about seagrass beds and their ecological role in an estuary. The right side contains tagged paper versions of a mollusk shell, manatee grass, turtle grass, and a mangrove seed.
Detail of paper objects and the outside of a tag; information on the tag includes the scientific name and common name for a red mangrove, its locality, and its habitat.
Detail of the inside of a tag; historical information outlining how Florida’s limestone foundation was one of the reasons Europeans didn’t settle in Tampa Bay after their early expeditions.
Book #3 documented on a shoreline in Tampa Bay, leaning against a mangrove with mollusks and barnacles growing on the roots.
View of all three books with labels attached to the spines. Label 1: “Volume I: 40th Century BCE to the Early 19th Century”, label 2: “Volume II: 19th Century to the Early 20th Century”, label 3: “Volume III: Early 20th Century to the Late 20th Century”.