(Links to individual works bottom of page)
‘Transit Transition’ was an exhibition commissioned in October 2018 by ‘Contains Art' an art gallery in a shipping container situated on the wharf at Watchet; a small town on the Somerset coast in the UK. The gallery had a 5 year history with a complete programme of exhibitions throughout this period. However, my exhibition was scheduled to be the very last before the gallery closed with a view to expanding to a purpose built gallery on the same site.
In the discussion for this commission it was suggested that the show should reflect this mood of transition or metamorphosis. My approach was to make ‘shipping containers’ the subject of the exhibition. Emphasising what a shipping container is- A space that’s very purpose is to be in constant transition. Essentially it was an art exhibition about ‘shipping containers’ in a shipping container.
In the discussion for this commission it was suggested that the show should reflect this mood of transition or metamorphosis. My approach was to make ‘shipping containers’ the subject of the exhibition. Emphasising what a shipping container is- A space that’s very purpose is to be in constant transition. Essentially it was an art exhibition about ‘shipping containers’ in a shipping container.
Lost shipping container
One piece of work in the exhibition, named after the Coleridge poem – ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’- Was an already existing work that I had made after seeing nesting albatross during a residency in the Antarctic in 2009. This in turn drew me to Watchet’s connection to the albatross through the poem. It is said that the poem was initially inspired by Coleridge's visit there in 1797. A statue next to the harbour commemorates this.
The poem is referenced frequently in the exhibition and used as a device to draw out a sense of the romantic sea faring tradition which is contrasted with our more banal contemporary world of global consumer capitalism. An image I found on the internet that has haunted me; is that of a shipping container accidentally lost over board. Like the wandering albatross it appears to be destined to drift forever.
The primary use of a shipping container is to move manufactured goods from where the work force is cheap to where people have money. Therefore, arguably part of the function of a shipping container is exploitation. Many of the titles for the new work in this exhibition are phrases and jargon from contemporary work places I have experienced. They are taken out of their original context and used here as titles to emphasise their meaningless, Kafkaesque nature.
The poem is referenced frequently in the exhibition and used as a device to draw out a sense of the romantic sea faring tradition which is contrasted with our more banal contemporary world of global consumer capitalism. An image I found on the internet that has haunted me; is that of a shipping container accidentally lost over board. Like the wandering albatross it appears to be destined to drift forever.
The primary use of a shipping container is to move manufactured goods from where the work force is cheap to where people have money. Therefore, arguably part of the function of a shipping container is exploitation. Many of the titles for the new work in this exhibition are phrases and jargon from contemporary work places I have experienced. They are taken out of their original context and used here as titles to emphasise their meaningless, Kafkaesque nature.
