William Chambers
Listen to the Whales
Listen to the Whales is an interactive experience where participants are invited to sit on cushions and use “vintage” listening devices to decode the language of the whales. Chambers rejects the 19th century scientific attempt to dominate the earth and the sea and wants interspecies relations to be more than conquest and destruction. PT Barnum’s “whale fiasco” at the American Museum in New York City was part of a long list of horrors perpetrated against these creatures. He imagine an alternate scenario where maritime resources are not for war, but instead for understanding whales and the ocean. Could we learn something from mammals so much larger than ourselves? Listen to the Whales comes out of that imagining. Who knows what we will discover?
About the Artist
Whether embodying the destruction of the home in the Obsessive Dollhouse, rethinking dreams and urban decay in Spaceship York, or asking the question “What’s missing?” in Service Station, Chambers dissects complex issues in his interactive installations. The audience becomes his partner on a journey of discovery. Humor, sleight of hand, raw emotion, and explosives are tools in his arsenal.
After 20 + years of art making and art teaching, Chambers finishes his MFA at The Massachusetts College of Art in Boston during summer 2016. He has done graduate work in painting at The School of the Museum of Fine Arts and Gage Academy. He received an M.Ed. from Antioch New England and a B.A. in Sculpture and Asia studies from Sarah Lawrence College.
Chambers exhibits his art in museums, galleries, private collections, and on street corners. During summer 2016, he is moving his studio to Worcester, MA.