Wu Tsang

Without form, and void

3D animated video, colour, with sound, 13', 2024

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With her work Without form, and void, Wu Tsang offers a possible interpretation of Herman Melville’s novel Moby Dick, a subject she has been working on for several years. The artist tries to think through the eyes of the animal – the sperm whale named Moby Dick at the heart of Melville’s novel – and gives substance to his vision. The human gaze is set aside and Wu Tsang invites us to consider the animal gaze as a visual and aural experience. This research results in a choreography composed of a multitude of movements. A shower of organic forms opens the piece, followed by circular movements of a mass of animal matter. Then a still image of a swirling vortex calmly captures the attention of passers-by. The music, with its jazzy tones, accentuates the theatricality of the piece. The presence of the whale dominates the film, even if its representation eludes us. It guides the audience from the surface of the ocean to its depths, offering a meditative plunge into this universe, generated in virtual reality. This work is part of a series of videos that the artist has presented at the Schauspielhaus in Zurich, the Venice Biennale and the Whitney Biennial in New York.

Additional credits:
Music Score by Asma Maroof & Daniel Pineda
Horns by Tapiwa Svosve, Jalalu-Kalvert Nelson, Miao Zhao
Animation Adapted from ‘Of Whales’
Creative Technologist – Ferdinand Dervieux
3D Artist – Aby Batti
Sky Box – Daniel Balage
Lead VFX Artist & additional modeling – Alexandra Radulescu
VFX Artist – Camille Petit
Sound Design – Nicolas Bredin
Additional Integration – Small by MacGuff Vincent Gutman, Marine Le Borgne, Florient Salabert
Produced by ATLAS V – Arnaud Colinart & Julien Bercy
Virtual Production by ALBYON

‘Of Whales’ was created with support from VIVE Arts, VIA Art Fund, and LUMA Foundation. Courtesy of Galerie Isabella Bortolozzi, Berlin; Antenna Space, Shanghai; Cabinet, London.

 

Produced by the Fonds cantonal d'art contemporain, Geneva for the Mire program