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| Sperm Whale Instrument (Part I) 2024 Handblown Opaline Glass representing the spermaceti organ, junk, blowhole and phonic lips, patinated steel, New York seawater, antique whale oils |
Kendler’s exhibition Other of Pearl proposes the adverse relationship humans have with underwater resources- highlighting whales and oysters. As a multimedia installation, it uses a conglomerate of materials such as fossilized whale ears, tears, and lab grown oysters. The architecture of Fort Jay invites viewers to walk from a tunnel into a main room with six side chambers. Fort Jay becomes the internal structure of the sea and of the whale itself. Standing inside of the space feels as if you are inside of both something living and something that is dead and gutted. The viewer can imagine the mystique of the creature through the space as much as through her artworks.
In Humpback Instrument, Sperm Whale Instrument, and Whale Bells, Kendler invites the public to “sing back to the whales”. By speaking in the glass instrument the human voice is transformed into an imagined bellow of a whale. However, this does not translate into literal communication between humans and whales and therefore is not reciprocal as Kendler suggests. Instead, it works more as a space for imagining the communication that whales are capable of. Kendler offers us a renewed lens for how we can present and admire these underwater creatures. This idea would have been pushed further if it were more obvious that viewers could interact with the instruments, or if viewers could have rung the whale bells which were cordoned off. The restrictive etiquette of gallery spaces unintentionally emphasizes our single sided relationship with the natural world.
Madison Dominguez Norris * edited version
I was not particularly struck by this exhibit when I first walked through it, but afterward, when I had time to read the press release, I empathized with what Kendler was trying to do here. The whale and our history of hunting them for oil in America provides an excellent subject for exploring "the ways in which capitalist systems are often founded upon the bodies of others." Seeing the disembodied and obscure parts of the whale, like its vocal system, definitely helps you feel this perspective because we dissected them in this way, hunting them only for the part we wanted. However, because this part happens to be where the whale's voice comes from, we are haunted by the very alive soul of the whale that we hear through it. We're forced to remember the whole whale while looking at this dead material recreation of one of its body parts we've never even seen before. According to the press release we should have actually been able to sing into this instrument in order to sing in the voice of a whale (although I think none of us knew this ). And this would have taken it a step further where we could actually breathe our own (real and new) life into the dead whale's voice and see how we are here now (as a result of capitalism and history) at the expense of the whale. I really like what you said about the space and how it is dead, gutted, and mysterious feeling all worked with the art. Your review helped me come to these new conclusions and fostered a greater appreciation for me.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate how you describe Kendler’s work in a way that is thoughtful and representative of her intentions. I liked how you described being inside the space as feeling you are within something that is both alive and dead. It is such an interesting description of the emotion you felt when walking through the show. I feel that including even more detail about why the space feels like that to you is important; maybe talking about the lighting choices as well may help amplify that setting. I also like your inclusion that viewers do not have to fully understand each narrative to have a takeaway from the exhibition. They can come to appreciate Kendler’s work and its meaning without the experience becoming overwhelmingly complex. Lastly, I enjoyed your final statement, wishing the viewers could call back to the whales themselves. I think this thought helps to recognize the relationship between humans, the natural world, and whales—in an intimate way that Kendler illustrates through the physicality of her sculptures.
ReplyDeleteI’ve never seen this exhibition in person, but through your description, I feel like I’m inside it. I initially thought Kendler’s work was only about climate change and the connection between the human body and nature. But now, I see another layer, like how the installation’s environment emphasizes the ideas of life and death. It’s fascinating how Kendler’s use of disembodied whale parts, like the vocal system, forces us to remember the whole whale while we experience its fragmented, dead pieces. I like how you mentioned that the communication in Kendler’s work only exists in one direction, which amplifies the feeling of disconnection and serves as a haunting reminder of how we’ve silenced and lost our connection with whales.
ReplyDeleteWhen I walked into this exhibit I was sort of awestruck. The way it was structured, the coolness of the underground stone tunnel, really added to the experience. The fact that these are whale bones in a tunnel, gives you a sense of macabre, as though we are buried underground with the whale. I agree with you, that allowing the audience to play the instrument ourselves would have allowed us to enter into communication with the whale more easily. I really enjoyed how you described the experience, in particular here, “Fort Jay becomes the internal structure of the sea and of the whale itself…. you are inside of both something living and something that is dead and gutted.” I think also the way the rooms were lit up left something to be desired. They felt mystic almost spiritual like, but I would have loved to see how the light played with the objects.
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