Starting at the end of May, a unique ceramic artwork called Sounding Line by Mella Shaw will go on display at The McManus: Dundee's Art Gallery and Museum.
The first UK institutional solo show from artist Mella Shaw is designed to raise awareness of how man-made underwater sound, like sonar, can harm whales. Sound pollution can deafen and confuse marine animals, making them come up to the surface too quickly and wash up on shore.
Mella was inspired to make this artwork after almost a 100 whales were found dead on beaches across Scotland and Ireland in 2018. This was largely unreported at the time.
Sounding Line includes large clay sculptures that were inspired by the tiny ear bones of whales. With permission from NatureScot, Mella made her own clay using whale bone.
The sculptures are wrapped in red ropes that vibrate with sonar pulses. Visitors can touch the ropes and feel the vibrations, similar to how whales experience sound underwater.
The display also includes a short film showing the artist taking one of the sculptures back to the sea, where it slowly dissolves in the water.
Mella created this work to inspire us to learn more about how human activity harms our environment and what we can all do to protect our planet.
Mella explains
"Over the last eight years, I've been making work about the climate and ecological crisis that we find ourselves in. Sounding Line is about the mass beaching events of whales that have been happening all across Britain, but particularly in Scotland. One of the main reasons behind it is this increase in the use of sonar to search for enemy submarines and also to search for new oil and gas reserves. I had the idea to make some clay using beached whale bone - much like bone-china is made using cow bone".
The whole project is a consciousness raising exercise to draw attention to this form of pollution that very few people know about."
This work now comes to Dundee, a major whaling port in the nineteenth century. There are reminders of this history around the city, in street names like East Whale Street and Candle Lane to public art, including Alistair Smart's Whale's Teeth on Polepark Road or Lee Simmons' Tay Whale on the Waterfront.
Anna Day, Head of Libraries and Cultural Services at Leisure & Culture Dundee, said
"It is fitting that in Dundee, a coastal city with a rich maritime heritage, Mella Shaw's beautiful work invites us to reflect on our past and consider how we can all help shape a more sustainable future for the city."
Sounding Line is supported by Creative Informatics, an ambitious research and development programme based in Edinburgh, which aims to bring the city's world-class creative industries and tech sector together.
Mella Shaw: Sounding Line at The McManus: Dundee's Art Gallery & Museum is FREE and runs 24 May 2025 to 18 January 2026.
Image credit: Mella Shaw