Before the Belly
by Theo Ellin Ballew
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“Before the Belly” is a biblical speculative fiction built into a 3D landscape. Swallowed by whales, we learn to communicate as they do: over miraculously long distances, but without being watched or manipulated by corporations. When we’re reborn from their mouths, we retain that ability via “bits” of their bellies, which we carry with us as umbilical-tools-cum-walkie-talkies. Armed with that new cyborgian strength but suffering from amnesia, we try to remember the apocalypse we inhabited before being swallowed.
“The cyborg would not recognize the Garden of Eden,” says Donna Haraway, calling for a “retelling [of] origin stories.” This project stokes the radical possibilities of a familiar biblical myth. Jonah’s rebirth from the big fish was already genderless and posthuman. In this future mythic version, we also enact our own birth; retain connection with those who bore us; are born not of God’s henchmen, but of instructors; are not alone, but collective; and, most importantly, learn not obedience, but rebellion.
