Creating Confusion and Beaching Whales with Captain Boomer Collective

By Daniella Angulo

Captain Boomer Collective is an Antwerp-based group that began under Artistic Director Bart Van Peel in 2009. They’ve recently wrapped up their latest installation of “Whale,” in Baku, Azerbaijan, for this year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP. A piece of street theatre bringing a hyper-realistic statue of a beached whale to different locations, Captain Boomer hires local actors to act as scientists investigating this phenomenon. Complete with a rotting fish smell, “Whale” disturbs and challenges audiences to question our extractive relationships with nature.

Inspired by the power of public art to “get rid of the threshold cultural expressions often have,” the Captain Boomer Collective brings together actors, sculptors, scientists, and journalists to originate location-based shows challenging the climate crisis, perceived boundaries between nature and our realities, fashion and how opinions shape us, and so much more.

Captain Boomer has received worldwide interest after the shock of “Whale” at COP29. We were lucky enough to catch up with Bart after COP, where we discussed the reaction “Whale” got in Baku, Captain Boomer’s upcoming projects, and much more. Thank you to Bart for taking the time to chat!

Firstly, what’s the meaning behind the name “Captain Boomer?”

In Moby Dick, the famous Captain Ahab rages against nature in his mission to destroy the white whale. Captain Boomer is a secondary character. He’s a much more reasonable person who acts to counterbalance Captain Ahab. As for the name itself, we had the idea that that’s also what we do, “boom-ing” in public spaces. There’s the connotation of ‘boomer,’ too, like old white guys. There’s many things we liked about it, and the name’s proved very effective. Once you hear it, you don’t forget it.

*A previous beaching in Redcar. Photo Credit: @captainboomercollective*

From projects ranging from Whale, to Pasture with Cows, to Shop of Opinions, your collective works across a variety of issues and mediums. What has been your favorite?

One I especially love is “Skagt.” This project is a descent with the audience to the underworld. We take people into a 400-meter shaft and bring them to Hell.

It’s all a visual illusion using a big mirror. The installation is an enormous periscope measuring 50 meters long. Being in this periscope gives the physical sensation of staring into the deep. We create a storyline where they go to the underworld and plant ideas of what they’ll encounter there. It’s incredible what you can make people believe. They’re just going about their day, and we can fool them into thinking they’re 400 meters deep. The success of this make-believe astonished me. After that, we knew we could go very far in walking the line between fiction and reality.

So far, we’ve done this in 5 or 6 different cities. It’s hard to translate this project online, so it doesn’t have the media potential of others. Artistically, though, I’m very proud of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JREu7XMyS2U “Skagt” in Paris, 2018

Now to talk about what’s been on everyone’s minds, “Whale.” Having set up “Whale” in different countries around the world since 2017, have you seen reactions to it change as climate urgency has grown?

Nowadays, the connection people make between the image and the climate crisis is much more immediate. We’ve usually gone to art festivals, where a piece’s meaning is very much in the eye of the beholder. If you see the whale as a confrontation with death, or a metaphor for refugees, or anything else, that’s okay.

Over time, though, this project has become a metaphor for what’s wrong with our relationships with nature. It’s a tragic image of how we’ve exhausted it. That metaphor’s become almost omnipresent throughout the piece, so we agreed it made sense to go to COP as a natural segue.

What was the reaction to “Whale” like in Baku?

We had thousands of Azerbaijanis coming, with the sense that the project really drew them in and took over. There’s not that kind of provocative, political public art in cities like Baku. It was also especially intriguing for them because we’re aiming to fool the audience, making them question if it’s real or not. There’s no way to confirm the truth because you can’t touch the whale. There’s scientists walking around, and it even has a smell.

In those first few days, controlling the narrative was challenging because everything was a bit chaotic. The parameter had to be extended, more police kept coming to control the crowd, and there was a lot of crowd confusion in general.

On the second or third day, it began to get international press. First The Guardian, then CNN, then published in India, all these different news outlets from around the world. So at first, the street theatre was mostly with Azerbaijanis, and then we began to see international visitors.

Even though it was hectic, that’s what I like. I love creating confusion. So many emotions can come from this piece: anger, sadness, joy, a sense of tragedy, a sense of ridicule. We stirred things up. As long as everyone’s safe, it’s great.

*A collective member hoses down the whale in Baku. Photo Credit:* *Aziz Karimov/Reuters*

Would you return to COP in the future?
If we got another opportunity to do something at COP, I wouldn’t hesitate. I think it’s really important that the COP tradition keeps going. There’s a lot of cynicism around COP; people are questioning if this is really what humanity needs.

Many diplomats who visited “Whale” feared COP would be a complete failure. The fact there was an agreement at all can be seen as a positive. It’s completely insufficient, but looking at the geopolitical context, getting all these countries to agree that climate financing is an issue is a big achievement. When I heard they at least had an agreement, I was relieved. While COPs may be flawed, it’s one of the only things we have as a global community to address these issues.

I think Captain Boomer would also have a role to play in future COPs in making space for more art and activism. I had expected more of this, but inside COP, the only thing I saw in the tradition of protest was a busker with a crowd around him: just a guy with a guitar, playing protest songs. This kind of work has a huge role to play at gatherings like these. It’s a constant struggle where, as artists, we have to ask for the world. We can’t be happy with the way things are.

What’s in store for Captain Boomer?

We have a few existing projects that we want to continue. “Shop of Opinions” is a collaboration with real shops in shopping centers where you can buy opinions and get styled on which opinions would fit you perfectly. It’s a parody of the fashion world and how we use opinions to shape our social personalities. We’re hoping to do it in Sydney.

We’re also trying to do our “Pasture” project in Amsterdam, which would see us bringing cows to the city. There’s other projects we want to do, but finding funding takes a long time. I have to remind myself to celebrate the successes we have, because it’s so easy for things to get frustrating. We should always be telling ourselves how lucky we are to get this forum and have our messages received. To be able to do this work is a beautiful, privileged thing.

*“Pasture with Cows” in Brittany, France, 2021. Photo Credit: @captainboomercollective*

The Captain Boomer Collective has been on a whirlwind, and we’re so grateful to Bart for sharing his insights. To keep up with their exciting work, follow them online at @CaptainBoomerCollective!