Michael John Whelan
Video Installation
Film
Photography
Objects
Paper & Sound
Info
News
Echoes of evaporation
and submergence

1991
And they did live by watchfires
Nocturne
Untitled
Darkness had no need
These last breaths
The time of cruel wonders
was not yet over

In the black dark for good
Carapace
That we were to wait
Like force and matter
Lupus
20 Vertices, 30 Edges
and 160 Diagonals

Dune
Transit of Venus
Over the echoing gateway
Stars/Star
Shadowplay
Archway (diptych)
1991
2020
archival pigment prints
50 x 37.5cm
(1/3) Next




On a summer's day in 1991, in the sea near where Whelan grew up, a young scuba diver disappeared during a dive. A search took place involving the whole neighbourhood, but the diver's body was found days later, caught up in illegal fishing nets. In an attempt to connect with any biological or metaphysical traces of this event, Whelan placed quartz crystals among the rocks and seaweed at this site. For a full moon cycle, the crystals became part of this environment, submerged under the violent waves. They were then collected without any human touch, so as not to affect the surface and the potential trauma absorbed within. The crystals were photographed using extreme macro photography, investigating the edges, surfaces and the algae attached. Afterwards, the crystals were returned to the sea.