The Box presents Leviathan’s Temple

What is life like in a whale's underwater world?

How might climate change affect their home and way of life?

How might these changes affect fishing communities and those that live within them?

Be transported inside the mind of a whale - a magical, migratory mammal whose past, present and future are so closely linked with the rhythms of our planet. Join us on a journey along ocean currents picking up stories, sounds, images and shadows as we cross the oceans.

Leviathan's temple is a site-specific installation exploring the shifting currents of environmental and social change in coastal, post-industrial communities of South-West England and the Norwegian Arctic Circle. 

It is the latest instalment in Live|Digital|Design’s (L.D.D.) ongoing collaborative process with communities in the Arctic Circle and the South-West of the UK. In both settings L.D.D. asked:

How did we get here and where do we go now? 

In arts residencies in the Arctic Circle and the South-West of the UK, L.D.D. worked with local residents, scientists and maritime industry workers to observe and understand the environmental and social impact caused by changes in technology, and natural processes such as the Gulf Stream.

This installation is part of an ongoing series that stages and responds to experiences of working across these two communities.

As we step inside Leviathan’s Temple we see shadows and light playing across the space. A generative soundscape made from field recordings from the M Shed & Bristol Museum audio archives, snippets of LW Radio and low resonant drones flow together like a song on the wind.

As the shifting shadows play, the undulating rhythm both soothes and discomforts as we are carried along the ever-changing currents of the sea within the mind of the whale.

Come and sit for a while. Experience the slowly changing currents of light and sound as they shift and coalesce around you. As you sit you consider some of the following questions:

More about the artists

Rhiannon Evans, Dave Meckin, Keir Williams and Joseph Fairweather Hole are the Live|Digital|Design collaborators that produced Leviathan’s Temple.

Leviathan's Temple is presented in partnership with Submerge, a UK based digital arts production and events company, working with artists to produce immersive experiences at the intersection of performance, music and creative technology.

Submerge produce the Bristol International Digital Arts Festival (BIDAF), which this year questions ‘Belonging’ - what it means to belong, what happens when objects, people and communities fracture; and how you bring them back together. Catch BIDAF at venues across the city from 1-10 March. View the programme here

Special thanks to

M Shed and Bristol Museum for access to archive material

Amy King for her advice and use of her archive material

Oxford Wood Recycling for help with the project.

Inspired? Dive deeper with these interesting articles:

Hakai magazine: Using historical tracking data and environmental modeling to calculate where blue whales will congregate

National Geographic: Whales on the wrong side of the world

The Guardian: Cod in a Cold Climate

Leviathan's Temple is part of our ongoing programme of activities exploring climate change and the positive actions we can take together to protect our planet. Want to read more about sustainability at We The Curious? Find out about our commitment to building a sustainable future here.