Museum affect : crocheted coral, children's stories and possibilities in queer time

Created in 2005, the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef (HCCR) is an ongoing series of projects organized through the Institute for Figuring (IFF) based in Los Angeles, founded by sisters Christine and Margaret Wertheim. The HCCR emerged from artistic experimentations with techniques for modelling hyperbolic space using crochet developed by mathematician Dr. Daina Taimina. Estimates by the IFF suggest 7,000 people have contributed to this large configuration of twenty-five reefs exhibited across ten countries. The main body of the HCCR has been exhibited in fifteen institutions such as the Andy Warhol Museum (March 11-June 17, 2007), The Hayward Gallery-Southbank Center in London (June 11-August 17, 2008), The Science Gallery Dublin (March 20-June 11 2010), Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, New York (May 14, 2010-January 9, 2011) and the Smithsonian (October 16, 2010-April 24, 2011). As a response to the plight of coral bleaching attributed to anthropogenic climate change, this ever-expanding network of cultural activity is a significant case study from which to explore museum roles in communicating climate change.