Of Whales

Of Whales emerges from Wu Tsang’s multidisciplinary research into Herman Melville’s literary epic, Moby-Dick (1851). In this immersive installation, surreal oceanic landscapes are continuously regenerated in real time using a virtual reality game engine, enveloping viewers in a dynamic, shifting marine world. A soundscape composed of horns, saxophone, clarinet, and contrabass fills the space, inviting reflection on our kinship with aquatic life forms and the ever-changing conditions of the natural world.

The work is part of a larger cinematic trilogy in which Tsang reimagines Melville’s tale of obsession and pursuit through postcolonial, queer, and ecological lenses. In Of Whales, the narrative is submerged, told not from the vantage point of the captain, but from beneath the surface of the ocean. The installation offers a lyrical meditation on the whale’s point of view, drawing viewers into an oceanic cosmos that Melville only hints at. Constantly shifting visual reflections suggest a realm beyond human knowledge and perception, gesturing toward the perspective of nonhuman life.

In her artistic practice, Tsang breaks down the boundaries between different disciplines, creating a unique artistic language that, together with the collective Moved by the Motion, explores the ‘in-betweenness’ states of inseparability and flux that cannot be reduced to fixed notions of form or understanding. 

Wu Tsang (1982, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States). Currently, Tsang works in residence at the Schauspielhaus Zurich as a theater director with the collective Moved by the Motion.

(Text written by TBA21 and used as wall label in the exhibition "Moby Dick. The Whale. The Story of a Myth from Antiquity to Contemporary Art", Palazzo Ducale, Genova, 2025)