Thalassa Whale Fishery

The Thalassa Whale Fishery - La Pêche à la Baleine Thalassa

The sun beat down on the desert so wide,
Dust choked the air & the townfolk cried.
Crops turned to ash, not a stalk left to stand,
So they called on their best, their bold ranchin’ man.

We've got no bread but have metal & flame,
Board this here spaceship & hunt in our name.
Wrangle the beasts, bring a feast to our land,
For the fate of our kin rests in your steady hand.

The seas shimmered with critters unknown,
With scales of bright copper & eyes cold as stone.
He lassoed the beasts with a net made of rope,
Their roars shook the tide, but he fought through with hope.

Some say it’s just conquest, to claim & to roam,
To steal from the wilds & bring riches back home.
But his heart held a vow, to the town he’d be true,
For their hunger was his & their dreams his to do.

Oh ride cowboy ride, ‘neath the heavens so vast,
To Thalassa Whale Fishery, where starlight is cast.
You stole through the deep, slew a whale for our greed,
Brought blood-soaked bounty to sate selfish need.

Heed now, ye listeners, ‘neath skies ever brooding,
To oceans of shadow, where starlight’s deluding.
We burned through the earth, leaving ashes and need,
Waste all that you have, and doom’s harvest you’ll bleed.
Beware, ye wastrels, of rot grim and looming,
When all is dried up, the hunger’s consuming.
He plundered the deep, slew a whale for our thirst,
Squander not or like us, your existence is cursed. -Rebecca Rose

“Thalassa Whale Fishery”, by Rebecca Rose. 1/1 Digital 3D spatially collaged animation in 16:9 aspect ratio, dimensions: 1920 x 1080 at 89mb, duration: 0:50. The original soundtrack was composed with AI assistance with sound mixing by the artist. This piece was created exclusively for the AOTM exhibition “Monochrome”, at Tezos Berlin in October 2025, and is part of the ongoing series “DeepCuts” -3D collages with depth inspired by songs.

Rebecca Rose is an award winning collage artist exploring spatially collaged sculpts and animations. Her 20+ year body of analog, sculptural, and digital collage has received multiple major artist grants co-sponsored by The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation, The Joan Mitchell Foundation, The Willem de Kooning Foundation, The Andrew Mellon Foundation, The Ford Foundation, and Bloomberg Philanthropic. Her work has sold at Christie’s and she was an artist in residence at The Joan Mitchell Center, Ox-Bow/SAIC, Selkie Rio Art Residency, and AOTM AiR Cohort 1.