The Cast Whale Project
Here lies the sculpture of a 14-metre-long humpback whale, the largest mammal in the world. Characteristic are the furrows running from the throat across the chest to the centre of the body, which expand like an accordion when the mouth opens. The animal shown here washed up on the west coast of South Africa in August 2018 and died. The whale made large journeys, following the food supply between the Southern Polar Sea and warmer climates in tropical waters. Its thick layer of skin showed bite marks from sharks and injuries from a ship’s propeller. The circumstances of his death are unclear. Dead and washed up, the animal allowed the Israeli artist to realise his dream: the moulding of a dead whale. The sculpture is made of fibreglass-reinforced plastic. The uniform grey colour distinguishes the sculpture from the living animal and turns it into a monument. The eyes, mouth and breathing hole are hidden, the soft, vulnerable belly is turned towards us. As a whole, this body, which is so much larger than ours, cannot be grasped. It lives on in death as a reminder to respect relationships with other living beings and the environment. Climate change is altering ocean currents, which affects our weather, but also the orientation of animals such as whales.
The road to Schachars dream was a long one, involving licences, crowdfunding and a lot of patience. Meanwhile, artists, marine biologists, taxidermists and many helping hands joined in. When the news finally came, everything had to happen very quickly before the body could be pulled back into the sea by the current.
The Theaterplatz underground car park is accessible every day from 6:30 am to 23:30 pm via the staircase.
In the museum shop of the Kunstsammlungen am Theaterplatz, a quarter-hour film shows the various steps of the moulding process on the beach through to the creation of the object in a workshop. The Kunstsammlungen am Theaterplatz are open Tuesdays, Thursdays to Sundays and on public holidays from 11 am to 6 pm and Wednesdays from 2 pm to 9 pm.