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Film: Drawing Restraint 9
DRAWING RESTRAINT 9 is film with no dialogue.
It is an abstract fairy tale carried by striking visuals
and music (much like opera), which draws its inspiration
from Japanese cultural tradition, the history of petroleum-based
energy, and the evolution of the whale. Framed within
the Japanese whaling tradition, the story draws an elliptical
connection between prehistoric fossil fuel, the prehistoric
land mammal as a pre- condition for the modern whale,
whale oil as a primary energy source, and the contemporary
condition of the diesel fueled factory ship. The DRAWING
RESTRAINT 9 narrative begins with a procession at a Japanese
oil refinery, where a tanker truck loaded with hot petroleum
jelly is paraded from the factory gates down to the local
harbor. The tanker is led by oxen, horses, deer, and wild
boar and is flanked by hundreds of Japanese revelers as
it arrives abreast an enormous factory whaling ship. The
hot petroleum jelly has been delivered to the ship in
port, where it is pumped into a massive, open mold on
the aft deck. The ship leaves departs for the Antarctic,
and over weeks the mass of petroleum jelly cools. The
cured surface of the jelly casting becomes a provocative
reflection of the changing condition of the seas. Whale
processing methods and tools are used to facilitate the
creation of this sculpture. The story culminates with
the de-molding of the sculpture as the ship reaches the
Southern Ocean, with the backdrop of luminous icebergs.
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