‘Whales’ is an evocative sculptural installation, capturing sperm whales hanging suspended in the Nave of the Cathedral. At rest? In-waiting? Campbell Frasers intention is that the audience will feel inclined to unravel the interspecies connection between human and animal (should that be mammal?) and this work is described as monumental. One day on, and I’m not convinced it achieves that, but it is an extraordinary experience and I fully applaud Winchester Cathedral for its offer.
For me, the combination of Winchester Cathedrals remarkable interior, their ability to include a bright, imaginative trail for children that didn’t detract from the Art, and the additional programme of accompanying talks, tours, food, music (I really enjoyed High and Dry’s Sea Shanty performance), even a whale song sound bath… all beautifully curated to enhance the oceanic theme, deserves much praise.
I even enjoyed the blatant marketing from sponsor ‘Southampton University’ as part of their exhibition from the Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute.
Cathedrals can be such snobby places, oozing ‘high-brow’ academic thought and culture but this experience has something for everyone and it would be a shallow human indeed who left without feeling, or sensing, the power of nature and its creatures and the imposition of man to destroy the beauty and wonder of nature as they seek to live side by side with it, or, to have simply enjoyed the interplay of light and whale song …. I was transported back to a journey to Canada when I was fifteen and visited the Natural History Museum in Ontario with my mother and Aunt. Here, I encountered whale music for the first time, at the 'exposition sur les baleines', it remained with me in my dreams for decades.
