Tilikum
To further explore ideas surrounding the substitute, my forthcoming work with Amber Doll involves transforming her severely damaged silicone flesh, PVC skeleton, and steel-infused joints into a to-scale replica of the bull orca, Tilikum, who lives in captivity at SeaWorld Orlando and has been involved in the deaths of three people. Tilikum recently made headlines after a February 24, 2010 incident when he killed Dawn Brancheau, a 40-year-old trainer with sixteen years of experience at SeaWorld. The trainer was drowned following a popular “Dine with Shamu” show while twenty tourists looked on from above a whale tank and from an underwater viewing area.
I will conduct the Amber Doll / Tilikum transformation in my studio under instruction from a “doll doctor.” My doll’s skeleton will become Tilikum’s skeleton and her mouth, tongue, and labia will become his very large mouth and tongue. Other of Amber Doll’s parts will be used as non-equivalent parts of Tilikum resulting in an assemblage maintaining a reference to its materials. Her silicone breasts for example, will become his characteristically large dorsal fin. The replica will be painted to mimic Tilikum’s markings.
The rebirth of Amber Doll into a replica of a mammal that is easy to sympathize with as a captive yet easy to blame as a violent killer references the love/hate tension in my doll’s and my existing relationship. The continued cultural domination of images of the subjection of women along with images of women gaining power by participating in their own subjection requires a feminist dialogue. My work involving Amber Doll’s destroyed body modified into a replica of a captive killer whale unflinchingly addresses the necessary dialogue through a complicated feminist lens.
View a YouTube video excerpting news coverage of the death of Dawn Brancheau.
View a YouTube video excerpting an interview with a whale expert explaining Tilikum's attack.
To further explore ideas surrounding the substitute, my forthcoming work with Amber Doll involves transforming her severely damaged silicone flesh, PVC skeleton, and steel-infused joints into a to-scale replica of the bull orca, Tilikum, who lives in captivity at SeaWorld Orlando and has been involved in the deaths of three people. Tilikum recently made headlines after a February 24, 2010 incident when he killed Dawn Brancheau, a 40-year-old trainer with sixteen years of experience at SeaWorld. The trainer was drowned following a popular “Dine with Shamu” show while twenty tourists looked on from above a whale tank and from an underwater viewing area.
I will conduct the Amber Doll / Tilikum transformation in my studio under instruction from a “doll doctor.” My doll’s skeleton will become Tilikum’s skeleton and her mouth, tongue, and labia will become his very large mouth and tongue. Other of Amber Doll’s parts will be used as non-equivalent parts of Tilikum resulting in an assemblage maintaining a reference to its materials. Her silicone breasts for example, will become his characteristically large dorsal fin. The replica will be painted to mimic Tilikum’s markings.
The rebirth of Amber Doll into a replica of a mammal that is easy to sympathize with as a captive yet easy to blame as a violent killer references the love/hate tension in my doll’s and my existing relationship. The continued cultural domination of images of the subjection of women along with images of women gaining power by participating in their own subjection requires a feminist dialogue. My work involving Amber Doll’s destroyed body modified into a replica of a captive killer whale unflinchingly addresses the necessary dialogue through a complicated feminist lens.
View a YouTube video excerpting news coverage of the death of Dawn Brancheau.
View a YouTube video excerpting an interview with a whale expert explaining Tilikum's attack.
