Spectacle in Motion | Atlanticcommodities

A Voyage ‘Round the World and Back in Time

Andy Colpitts

Sperm Whaling in the Atlantic (Roll 2)

How much do we really know about where our products come from in a globalized society? The exhibition A Spectacle in Motion: The Grand Panorama of a Whaling Voyage ‘Round the World is the New Bedford Whaling Museum’s articulate response to this question. The centerpiece of the exhibit is Benjamin Russell and Caleb Purrington’s 1848 ‘moving panorama’ which displays the myriad sights and facets of life aboard a whaling ship. Measuring 8-feet high and over 1,250-feet long, this artifact draws together the history of two rapidly changing (yet rarely associated) 19th century industries: whaling and entertainment. The Grand Panorama artfully charts the ports of call of a typical whaling voyage. We begin in New Bedford – the whaling capital of the world at the time – and pass through various Atlantic and Pacific harbors including the Azores, Rio de Janeiro, Hawaii, and many more. Following the unfurling of the canvas, the exhibition imbeds specific image hyperlinks into the narrative, allowing the viewer to seamlessly follow each meticulously researched section of the journey. The high-quality digital rendering of the Panorama allows the virtual viewer the possibility to zoom in on even the smallest details.

View of New Bedford, Massachusetts (Roll 1)

Panoramas, as an artform, cropped up first in the late 1790s in Great Britain. Hand painted 360° views of land and cityscapes were hung in purpose-built rotundas, and visitors were charged three shillings to enter. This form of immersive popular entertainment offered viewers the chance to “travel the world” without ever leaving town. The moving panorama, in turn, made this medium mobile by rolling it onto spindles that turn in tandem to give the effect of scrolling scenery, all of which could easily be transported from town to town. A Spectacle in Motion situates Russell and Purrington’s artistic work within traditions of circus and freakshows, as a form of popular public pseudo-anthropology. One of only a handful of surviving panoramas (also the longest painting in the United States), the Grand Panorama served not only to entertain, but to educate viewers on the practice of whaling and life in far-off lands. Whether it, in fact, succeeded in such endeavors is a different question – and one treated adeptly by the curators.

Kealakekua Bay on the Western side of Hawaii (Roll 3)

While the Grand Panorama provides some of the most thorough visual accounts of whaling practices available to us today (including harpooning, cutting-in, and rendering blubber), it perhaps paints an overly rosy picture of the relationship between whaling crews and the inhabitants of the colonized islands where ships would restock. Likewise, while it depicts the multi-racial and multi-national crews aboard the ships, it is unable to detail the segregation and disparate treatment among sailors. The exhibit employs accounts from whalers’ journals to provide the nuance not afforded by merely viewing the Panorama. One section, labeled ‘Globalization and Diversity’ takes a thematic approach to the importance of whaling for global commerce and early inter-national and inter-colonial relations. In this, we understand the Panorama to tell not only the story of the various commodities produced by whaling – oil, baleen, ambergris – but also of the Panorama itself as a commodity used to delight audiences, not to challenge them.

The idea and much of the design of the Panorama has been attributed to Benjamin Russell. Russell was a native of New Bedford and knew the industry backward and forward. Having grown up in a mercantile family, he sailed in a whaling voyage aboard the Kutusoff in 1843. After two voyages ‘round the world – the second of which being largely devoted to sketching— he teamed up with a local sign painter, Caleb Purrington. The first-hand experience of Russell, who toured and lectured with the Panorama, gives a certain authority to the object, which was praised by many whaling captains for its accuracy.

Among Russell’s most dynamic scenes are those from the Fourth Roll depicting ships in the throes of whaling off the Northwest Coast of North America. Boats are smashed to smithereens, crew members tossed into the turbulent surf. Strips of blubber are cut and rendered as baleen is harvested. These bloody scenes stand in stark contrast to the sun-soaked islands with native traders welcoming the ships. The true marvel of the exhibit, however, is the level of detail regarding individual ships. Dozens of the ships depicted are able to be identified by their flags and builds, linking them to specific New Bedford whaling enterprises. Likewise, cultural touchstones of the whaling community, including the sinking of the Essex, are depicted, blurring the line between Russell’s personal experience and the wider cultural imaginary. By critically evaluating the Grand Panorama as a historical

Cutting-In Process off the Northwest Coast of the US (Roll 4)

and artistic document, this exhibit succeeds in knotting together the economic and cultural significance of whaling in the 19th century, and how this industry brought the wide world back to the home front.