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Balena Voladora

2026

light

Balena Voladora at dusk, with cyan light tracing its ribs, fins and tail and a warm yellow light beside its open mouth.

A flying whale in the desert. Pulling a lever sets its wooden skeleton in motion, swimming above the sand.

A low side view of the whale with cyan ribs and a raised tail against the evening sky, its metal mechanism visible underneath.

I see a bit of Moby-Dick in it, but also a fossil, or one of the whale skeletons hanging in a natural history museum. The ribs are open and you can see the wooden joints and metal mechanism doing the work. The starting point was a small DIY kinetic model, scaled up into something people could operate themselves.

For the lighting, I followed the skeleton. The LEDs trace the ribs, spine, fins and tail, drawing the whale against the sky after dark. I made a 3D lighting study using Erik's model to try the placement and work out the lengths before the LEDs were cut and wired.

The whale seen from beneath its tail, with warm light outlining the ribs and both fins against a blue dusk sky.
A film photograph of the whale being assembled in a workshop, with its wooden ribs supported on a metal frame.
A film photograph looking through the whale's ribs during a lighting test, with white LED tubes and their wiring visible.
A film photograph of the whale's ribs and mechanical frame laid out for assembly in the desert, with a crew member standing beside them.
A film photograph of three crew members beside the whale's unfinished frame at sunset, with one raising a peace sign.
A film photograph of the crew lifting and fitting the whale's body onto its frame as the desert sky turns orange.
A film photograph of the assembled whale in the desert at sunset, its pale ribs and fins outlined with light.

I programmed the lighting against the whale's 3D geometry. The twelve ribs, spine, tail and two fins have separate LED runs, driven by two controllers. Colour can travel along an individual bone or move through the whole body.

A close view from below of the whale's broad tail and narrowing ribs, edged in red and white light.
A close view along the illuminated ribs towards the whale's head, showing red LED tubes, cables and the spread fins.

Erik Schmitz and Selim designed the whale. Erik did the engineering and built the wooden structure and mechanics. I made the 3D study and handled the software and lighting programming. Albert Carrera at Nouled handled the hardware, mounting and cabling.

The whale's open mouth, ribs and near fin glow orange and red against a pink evening sky.