Sue Heydon
The Absolute Impossibility of putting an Arnoux Whale back together.
Sue Heydon 2020-2022
The Absolute Impossibility of putting an Arnoux Whale back together Part I
This work is the first response to an encounter with the remains of a Berardius arnuxii or Arnoux’s Beaked Whale, while cycling around the Waimea Estuary.
Resembling an exceptionally large dolphin the deep diving and secretive creature, was determined to be a young adult male of about seven metres.
Arnoux’s Beaked Whales are extremely sensitive to underwater noise.
On subsequent occasions I noticed further disintegration, small fish feeding from insects flying around the body, and later bigger fish feeding on the smallest.
Eventually nothing remained.
The ‘bandaged woven form, intended as a materialisation of the whale’s spirit, is positioned at the estuaries edge where it can disappear into the ocean as the whale did.
Follow the QR code to track it down.
The Absolute Impossibility of putting an Arnoux Whale back together Part II
A further response involved weathered branches, canvas ‘dressings’ and harakeke stitching, recovered from the coastline to intimate an unattainable attempt to restore the Whale to his original magnificence.
The Absolute Impossibility of putting an Arnoux Whale back together Part III
Five spinal discs record the beauty of his vertebrae.
A further five suggest the vulnerability of these forms.
I question why this young Arnoux’s Beaked Whale stranded?
