'Artboards' ride the crest of a wave to raise R300,000 for ocean charities

30 November 2016 - 12:18 By Dave Chambers

An auction of 11 surfboards adorned with artwork sold for a total of R300 000 on Tuesday night at the annual Wavescape festival “artboard” auction in Cape Town. The top price‚ R67,000‚ was for a board by Lionel Smit‚ followed by R55,000 for Brett Murray's board.The auction‚ in Muizenberg‚ was conducted by comedian Nic Rabinowitz‚ and proceeds will be split between the National Sea Rescue Institute‚ Waves for Change‚ Shark Spotters and the South African Adaptive Surf Team.The board that attracted the most attention in the run-up to the sale was a carved white board by Jenna Barbe‚ meant to resemble bleached white coral.Bleaching‚ according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration‚ occurs when changes in light‚ temperatue or nutrients prompt the living corals to expel “symbiotic algae living in their tissues‚ causing them to turn completely white”.The most common cause is warmer water temperatures but corals can recover if the stress does not last too long.Jenna Barbe's carved surfboard resembling bleached white reefSaid Barbe: “I source reject surfboard blanks to reduce the impact on our landfills. The white‚ flakey and powdery nature of the substrate emphasises the fragility of the coral forms that cover the surface. This speaks to the current conversation around global warming‚ specifically coral bleaching. The piece acts as a relic or fragment of this precious resource.”– TMG Digital/The Times..

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