Will Pappenheimer, 2017, Screen capture video of augmented reality content at various sites, currently on site for the NEA funded exhibition, “The Augmented Landscape” curated by Boston Cyberarts, in Salem, Massachusetts

Ascension of Cod creates a school of virtual cod swimming upwards in a column as if in an ascension to the heavens. It calls up the reverence and endangerment of these fish both as an abundant food source and as a historic local livelihood. Massachusetts Bay cod, known as “Sacred Cod,” have been so plentiful that they became the hallmark of New England fisheries and trade. Up until recently. Surveys have revealed that up to 80% of the cod have been either fished or suffered from the effects of warming oceans. This is struggle between the fisherman’s time honored livelihood, the science behind the fisheries’ regulation and a farewell spiral of species.