Blue Whale commission (2015)
Plywood, steel hardware, paint/stain.
16’ length, suspended via steel cable in a private office lobby in West Los Angeles.
Commissioned by MoFilm, a film production company, as a lobby feature. A wooden blue whale intended to span the space and double as a light fixture. The whale was designed and fabricated at my studio in Albuquerque, New Mexico in two parts and re-assembled on site.
The design and process was based on early natural history museum methods for creating blue whale displays. Those vintage giant models were wrapped in a final skin; this whale was left as structure, to preserve the open airy light quality of the space. The process was 100% analog; for everything from models to final piece, no digital fabrication was used.
16’ length, suspended via steel cable in a private office lobby in West Los Angeles.
Commissioned by MoFilm, a film production company, as a lobby feature. A wooden blue whale intended to span the space and double as a light fixture. The whale was designed and fabricated at my studio in Albuquerque, New Mexico in two parts and re-assembled on site.
The design and process was based on early natural history museum methods for creating blue whale displays. Those vintage giant models were wrapped in a final skin; this whale was left as structure, to preserve the open airy light quality of the space. The process was 100% analog; for everything from models to final piece, no digital fabrication was used.
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a5cda507929e93174d36c9e240d539fbe671bb4bde15f918264f633aefec33aa/whalescans003.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8f6f740df65172197d57288bdaf7531e79e46db6d643a9d69c5aaf1022d16c05/whalescans002.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2135fab7e4d2e7836c450b212e99c4dacdbfb0a8a35a7aeb46320d0562da1e97/whalescans006.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/dfb251e7d3ef631aa5438b8f51050fe2a08adfaf3eb54e63241914edcbbcd528/whalescans005.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a5cda507929e93174d36c9e240d539fbe671bb4bde15f918264f633aefec33aa/whalescans003.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bbfe1d46d2b1586e9cbdac0208a3ef4b40f472c126653095735c2ff14f52f749/whalescans004.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e3ffece6a3e21fe2b667d09471c4670ee36fa175d2216898361aa991108fd905/whalescans001.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ebb7be69328f26a1254854aa80d2ea2318ba353780430d600c33b69c3731d562/FullSizeRender-2.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1ed3823bde54a67272cb146b1465cf1bb02f80c3e843e4134d90e6e39b17408c/whaleupright.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/eaf9565ff4df766e6b019749a86fecee8e756660353d7946412f9b3149c9ec51/FullSizeRender.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/97d169c027e63ead7cb4c28ee3ce626a744d3c36e0cbb50576f7843d5c3c92a9/IMG_5818.jpeg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f05bb3164d991bb74b50132fdca0a3fca877062e754f5c5e1d80156fe6a0631f/IMG_5805.jpeg)
WHALE-MAKING: