Opening Celebration: Weather and the Whale

Weather and the Whale is a major exhibition project featuring immersive displays of original science research and newly commissioned contemporary artworks. Emerging at the intersections of art and science to connect people to the impacts of climate change, the project brings leading artists into collaboration with marine ecologists at the Friedlaender Lab at UC Santa Cruz. 

The art and science focus of the exhibition is a reflection of the unusual assembly of curators who have developed the project. Ari Friedlaender, a renowned marine ecologist in UC Santa Cruz’s Department of Ocean Sciences and Institute of Marine Studies, has worked with Dr. Rachel Nelson and Dr. Alexandra Moore from the Institute of the Arts and Sciences for two years, gathering a team of artists, scientists, and humanists to think about new and creative ways to communicate the complex issues of climate crisis. 

Presented across the galleries and the screening room at the IAS, Weather and the Whale includes new research and data developed through two years of fieldwork by the Friedlaender Lab. This data, much made public for the first time, delves into the impacts on whales and other marine mammals of environmental toxins, sea ice retreat, and other threats, including what is happening in Monterey Bay and throughout coastal California.

Most of the immersive video installations, sculptures, photography, and other artworks on view are newly created for Weather and the Whale.  The nine artists and collectives involved provide novel and experiential ways of seeing and understanding the human and nonhuman experiences of living in times of climate crisis– and to imagine global climate justice across land and ocean.