This thematic issue explores the possibilities offered by the optics of artistic production for gaining a better understanding of the social, ecological, and political dimensions of oceanic life. It argues that such inquiry can enhance epistemic plurality by accommodating underrepresented perceptions, experiences, and interpretations in research processes. Art has always played an important role in depicting and exploring the manifold dynamics of the oceans and has contributed to a better understanding of human relationships with these environments. When employed as an autonomous mode of knowledge production and guided by specific research questions, artistic practice can intervene in hegemonic canons and bring to light previously unexplored aspects of human engagement with the seas. This thematic issue addresses these developments through a series of complementary contributions that employ participatory, interventionist, analytical, and poetic methods to examine the interface between ocean and society and outline an emerging repertoire of artistic research approaches that shed new light on life in and around the oceans.