Before arriving in Provincetown as a Fine Arts Work Center fellow, I didn't knew the first thing about Right Whales or their endangerment. Therefore, I was taken aback when, during a group visit to the Center for Coastal Studies, I started to cry hearing the heartwrenching story of Spinnaker.
A few days later, I began self-questioning why had this impacted me so much. I began digging into the issue and realized the common thread with my usual subjects: both whales and scientists are fighting an uphill battle against the invisible hand of the market.
Ropeless is an interactive VR experience that explores the duality of rope through the real-life testimonies of two narrators: a whale disentangler and a Shibari artist. By contrasting the motivations, techniques, and challenges of each job, the project brings attention to the impact of chronic entanglement on the imminent extinction of the North Atlantic Right Whale, using a poetic immersion in rope and its power to bond, release, and torture.
