DRAWING RESTRAINT 9 begins with a procession at a Japanese oil refinery, where a tanker truck loaded with hot petroleum jelly is paraded from the factory gates down to the local harbor. The tanker is led by oxen, horses, deer, and wild boar and is flanked by hundreds of Japanese revelers as it arrives abreast an enormous factory ship. The hot petroleum jelly has been delivered to the ship in port, where it is pumped into a massive, open mold on the aft deck. The ship departs for the Antarctic, and over weeks the mass of petroleum jelly cools. The cured surface of the jelly casting becomes a provocative reflection of the changing condition of the seas. Whale processing methods and tools are used to facilitate the creation of this sculpture. The story culminates with the de-molding of the sculpture as the ship reaches the Southern Ocean, with the backdrop of luminous icebergs.

The evolution of the petroleum jelly sculpture on the processing deck is mirrored by a love story which is unfolding on the second deck of the factory ship. The strict choreography of a traditional Japanese tea ceremony is the backdrop for the courtship of two western guests who are falling in love as they are served green tea by the ship's host. As the voyage ensues, the tea room itself becomes the tea bowl, as it slowly fills up with warm fluid. The western guests become enveloped in the fluid and undergo a mysterious transformation as DRAWING RESTRAINT 9 comes to a close.