What to know about the new giant whale sculpture downtown

Crews installed a 56-foot, 11,000-pound sculpture of a whale in Downtown Crossing over the weekend. It’s the first in a series of 19 installations that will populate Downtown Boston this winter as part of its new “Winteractive” public art exhibition.

“Echoes – A Voice From Uncharted Waters” is an interactive piece by UK-based artist Mathias Gmachl. The giant, colorful whale is made of steel and features sound and light elements that respond to cues from passersby.

“Interacting respectfully with the marine mammal’s vital space takes us into an enigmatic melodic world,” according to the Winteractive website. “But if we get too close, we are assaulted by noise pollution emitted by the industrialized world.”

The sculpture is a commentary on humanity’s impact on the natural environment, Gmachl explained in an artist statement on the website. 

“I want to provide an open space — a platform — for the public to have conversations about the future of our planet,” Gmachl wrote. “Not just about whales, but of all life that exists.”

Gmachl’s “Echoes” arrives in Boston after a stint in New York City’s Garment District this fall. The traveling artwork is a co-production of the Canadian Quartier des Spectacles, in partnership with Austria’s MuseumsQuartier Wien and Switzerland’s LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura.

“Echoes” is just the first tease of the “Winteractive” exhibition, which will eventually feature 19 different public installations across Downtown Boston. The full exhibition is slated to open mid-January and run through April.

Winteractive is a project of the Downtown Boston Business Improvement District, which hopes to raise the neighborhood’s profile as a winter destination for shopping and gathering. 

Thanks to its massive size and technical complexity, “Echoes” took two days to install. On Saturday, the crew lifted its metal pieces into place using cranes. On Sunday, they fine-tuned the light and sound displays.

Bostonians can now visit the sculpture on the Downtown Crossing steps at the corner of Washington Street and Franklin Street.