A Whaling Descendant Performs In Four Acts
Collaborative project with Charlie Chace
Supported by New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park's Artist Fellowship Program as well as an Artist Residency at UMass Dartmouth Center for Visual & Performing Arts
2020, New Bedford, Massachusetts, USA
In an intergenerational, intercontinental film collaboration, a whaling descendant contemplates his lineage, anthropomorphism, and the lingering mythology of whaling. He is inside the belly of a whale. He is everyone before him who killed a whale. He is a whale. Can whaling mean ‘being a whale’?
Performed by Charlie Chace (Vice President, Descendants of Whaling Masters; New Bedford Whaling Museum docent)
Directed by Salty Xi Jie Ng (Artist Fellow, New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park; Artist in Residence, UMass Dartmouth Center for Visual & Performing Arts)
Adapted from a performance devised by Charlie and Salty, which became this film when the pandemic hit and we had to isolate.
The film was screened virtually at New Bedford's May AHA! night. The post-screening dialogue was moderated by project dramaturg artist Eli Nixon and featured conversation with Charlie Chace, Salty Xi Jie Ng and guest Michael Dyer (Curator of Maritime History, New Bedford Whaling Museum).
Supported by New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park's Artist Fellowship Program as well as an Artist Residency at UMass Dartmouth Center for Visual & Performing Arts
2020, New Bedford, Massachusetts, USA
In an intergenerational, intercontinental film collaboration, a whaling descendant contemplates his lineage, anthropomorphism, and the lingering mythology of whaling. He is inside the belly of a whale. He is everyone before him who killed a whale. He is a whale. Can whaling mean ‘being a whale’?
Performed by Charlie Chace (Vice President, Descendants of Whaling Masters; New Bedford Whaling Museum docent)
Directed by Salty Xi Jie Ng (Artist Fellow, New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park; Artist in Residence, UMass Dartmouth Center for Visual & Performing Arts)
Adapted from a performance devised by Charlie and Salty, which became this film when the pandemic hit and we had to isolate.
The film was screened virtually at New Bedford's May AHA! night. The post-screening dialogue was moderated by project dramaturg artist Eli Nixon and featured conversation with Charlie Chace, Salty Xi Jie Ng and guest Michael Dyer (Curator of Maritime History, New Bedford Whaling Museum).
