The exhibition proposes new and challenging ways to shift our understandings of and relationships to whales and other nonhuman animals. Through over fifteen interdisciplinary artworks in video, installation, painting, tapestry, music, performance, and more, Who Speaks for the Oceans? analyzes epistemological and historical knowledge built around what we think we know about life in the ocean through the charismatic “whale song.” As we approach a crucial moment concerning the condition of our planet, listening to whale vocalizations and other marine creatures can bring us closer to understanding their needs and encouraging action towards healthier stewardship of the oceans. Many historic representations of ocean life have been informed by colonial, racialized, gendered, and terra-centric conventions alongside the production of nature, which will be exposed and critiqued through the multiple perspectives of an international and intergenerational group of artists. Traversing a polyvocal marine geography, the artists in Who Speaks for the Oceans? encourage listening beyond normative patterns of consumption. They also consider how technology, assumed to be indexical and scientific, has informed imaginary and fantastical perspectives of non-terrestrial worlds. Some artists in the exhibition play with such perspectives and offer alternative future projections, while others reflect on and amplify overlooked histories. Artists: Ant Farm, Ursula Biemann, Else Bostelmann, Myrlande Constant, Jacques Cousteau and Louis Malle, Pia Dehne, Miho Hatori, Marguerite Humeau, Will Jackson, Joan Jonas, Dominique Knowles, Alvin Lucier, Chris Marker and Mario Ruspoli, Josèfa Netjam, and Roger Payne
New York City, NY; NYC