🍿 werckmeister harmonies, (dir. béla tarr, 2000)

the whale itself was constantly remediated…transformed through death and putrefaction and also through various attempts at arresting putrefaction through freezing, chemical treatment, and taxidermy.

jamie l. jones, “fish out of water: the ‘prince of whales’ sideshow and the environmental humanities”, configurations 25(2) (2017). https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/con.2017.0012

an illustration of one of the closing shots of uncle gyüri in tarr's The media infrastructure approach is especially resonant in the case of the Prince of Whales, whose message was inseparable from its materiality, and whose means of transmission was a continent-wide assemblage of trains, railroads, and human and animal labor teams.&10;And, as the foregoing narrative demonstrates, the whale itself was constantly remediated: the whale was transformed through death and putrefaction and also through Newton and Engelhardt's various attempts at arresting putrefaction through freezing, chemical treat-ment, and taxidermy. Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin theorized remediation as a way of understanding new digital media, but their ideas enable new understandings of the whale show as well.[48] Bolterand Grusin describe remediation as the representation of one medium in another. case whale show was part original that remediated pieces and over time into ice salt moss chemicals wood steel new organic material emerged through body putrefaction. another integral component whale-show-as-medium complex transportation network transmitted it across country structures display were built anew at every stop along way.Remediation has a double logic according to bolter and grusin demonstrating culture contradictory imperatives for immediacy hypermediacy offers transparent presentation of the real invokes enjoyment opacity media themselves. whale show demonstrated both fully: it allowed visitors a rare experience through sensory contact with far-fetched specimen. at same time offered chance revel in hypermediacy: logistics transport from north atlantic all way chicago points beyond was topic constant promotion. remediation is arguably characteristic many or even cultural forms acknowledge genealogy digital going back least several hundred years what made newton englhardt special that immediate pelagic creature who had been otherwise insensible lived outside human habitation whose rendered oil circulated if not invisibly then use nicole shukin word ordinary consumer spaces distant coast. its hyper-mediacy no less wondrous-its transportation halfway across continent almost occult death-defying powers engelhardt claimed their efforts halt putrefaction.