VCU artist’s planetary sculpture adds blue whales from New Zealand

By Drew Thompson

First was the cluster of astronomical observatories in Chile, followed by the Paleolithic burial site in Portugal. Next came the meteorite impact crater in Germany. Now, Virginia Commonwealth University sculptor Michael Jones McKean, whose artwork spans space and time, has unveiled the fourth and latest location of his "Twelve Earths" planetary sculpture: the blue whale feeding and foraging ground off the coast of New Zealand.

The bold project features a dozen vastly different sites located along a single geographical ring, forming what he calls a "unifying great circle" stretching 25,000 miles around the planet. Research for "Twelve Earths" began in 2017, and McKean, an associate professor in VCU's School of the Arts, plans to announce the remaining sites through 2029, marking a dozen years from the project's start.

Though formed on a planetary scale, "Twelve Earths" aims to be intimate - a framework for contemplating life and death, emergence and decay, science and nature, as well as past, present and future. The latest site, in the extended waters off Wharariki Beach in New Zealand's South Taranaki Bight, features a recently identified population of nonmigratory blue whales.

The awe-inspiring blue whale, which can grow to 100 feet in length and weigh up to 200 tons, is the largest animal on Earth.

"I felt that there needed to be a location that dove into a more-than-human world, a world that extends beyond human perception," said McKean, a member of the Department of Sculpture and Extended Media. "The idea of this mythic animal, the largest being that's ever lived on the planet, opens a set of exciting possibilities."

McKean had been researching the location and the whales for a few years, and he was struck by their rare nature.

"Most blue whales are migratory - where they're moving from Antarctica up to somewhere near the equator, back and forth - but this group just stays around Aotearoa New Zealand," he said. "It was like this perfect alignment" for the shape of "Twelve Earths."

During his research, McKean connected with a team from Oregon State University's Marine Mammal Institute that was also investigating the area. He was able to join them on a boat for a week during their season of research - and was inspired to add artistry to their work.

Sensing an opportunity to place an artwork along "Twelve Earths'" ring path, McKean, in consultation with the OSU researchers, worked with Cornell University's K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics, which makes sophisticated underwater listening devices called hydrophones. These devices are deployed deep underwater to listen to and record an entire year of whale song.

"On the hydrophone, I proposed adding a custom titanium plate with geospatial engravings that help locate it within 'Twelve Earths'' cosmology," McKean said. "This addition subtly transforms the hydrophone, creating a double life as both a scientific instrument, and sculpture."

Though brief, McKean's experience on the research boat brought him closer to the whales and to nature's power. He recalls a night of particularly turbulent storms.

"People were bouncing from their beds, equipment cases were flying off, and there were moments when my whole body lifted off the bed into the air," McKean said. "The space between doing research in a more idealized sense, in relation to the very real physical demands that working in these kinds of conditions places on your body - the fortitude and athleticism that being out in the middle of the ocean requires - was in itself amazing and inspiring to experience."

The research also highlighted for McKean how connected these seas are to the local Indigenous population, the Māori, who consider the blue whales to be ancestors and sacred animals. He hopes his "Twelve Earths" project, as it continues to unfold, will further spur environmentalists to help protect the whales, their waters and the Māori who treasure them.