Wu Tsang's 'MOBY DICK; or, The Whale' reinterprets Melville's classic as queer romance and political allegory

Wu Tsang's 2022 film 'MOBY DICK; or, The Whale' reimagines Herman Melville's 1851 novel through queer and political lenses. The silent film features American poet Fred Moten as the Sub-Sub-Librarian narrator, wearing blue eyeshadow and flowing robes. Tsang emphasizes the gay love story between Ishmael and Queequeg, depicting their intimacy with frank sensuality. Scenes of sailors processing whale blubber are rendered with homoerotic steaminess. The film blends epic silent cinema with gay erotica, drawing on Black radical thought and combining ballet with vogue choreography. Tsang collaborated with collective Moved by the Motion, including Tosh Basco, Asma Maroof, Sophia Al Maria, and Josh Johnson, based at Zürich's Schauspielhaus theatre. Moten's narration incorporates Trinidadian historian C.L.R. James's analysis of the whaling ship as a 'floating factory' reflecting industrial capitalism. The companion piece 'Of Whales' uses Unity gaming engine to create randomized CGI ocean imagery over an hour, becoming a meditation on nonhuman consciousness. Both works transform Melville's classic into political allegory, queer romance, and sci-fi fantasia. 'Of Whales' is on view at Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid through June 11.