Stowaway artists turn life on the ocean into art

A new exhibition at Hong Kong's Para Site Gallery -- <a href="http://www.containerartistresidency01.org/" target="_blank" target="_blank">Creative Operational Solutions</a> -- explores the work of seven artists who sailed on commercial container ships. "The sea is the backbone of globalization and exchanges of global culture," Cosmin Costinas, executive director of Para Site says. "Art can help us better understand the world in which we live, and the complicated exchanges, structures and flows that lie at the core of it."

A new exhibition at Hong Kong's Para Site Gallery -- Creative Operational Solutions -- explores the work of seven artists who sailed on commercial container ships. "The sea is the backbone of globalization and exchanges of global culture," Cosmin Costinas, executive director of Para Site says. "Art can help us better understand the world in which we live, and the complicated exchanges, structures and flows that lie at the core of it."

David McNew/Getty Images North America/Getty Images

"ZIM™", by Mari Bastashevski (2016) —

Danish artist Bastashevski's mirrored box contains water from the Suez Canal and a camera, which automatically posts photos to a dedicated Twitter account, @ZimTmRobot.

Mari Bastashevski

"Curve", by Maayan Strauss (2011) —

Israeli artist Strauss traveled from Haifa in Israel to New Jersey in the US on a container ship In 2011. She documented the three-week voyage in a series of photographs entitled 'Freight,' that capture the unusual perspective of life at sea.

Maayan Strauss

Athens-based <a href="http://www.christopherorlandopage.com/" target="_blank" target="_blank">Christopher Page</a> has created two works of art in one, examining the nature of what it means to be constrained or displaced. In its 'Containment' form, the work consists of three identical shipping crates. <br />

"Containment or Integration", by Christopher Page (2016) —

Athens-based Christopher Page has created two works of art in one, examining the nature of what it means to be constrained or displaced. In its 'Containment' form, the work consists of three identical shipping crates.

Christopher Page

"Voyage 51 East", by Erin Diebboll (2016) —

Inspired by the unseen contents held in the ship's cargo, Diebboll created a series of more than 60 intricately tiled drawings of the loadouts of shipping containers, according to their packing lists.

Erin Diebboll

"ZIM™", by Mari Bastashevski (2016) —

A note on the work states that it is not complete until it is auctioned -- as per the contract of the residency -- and once it is auctioned, it must be destroyed with the hammer provided.

Mari Bastashevski

"A Pool of Experience", by Revital Cohen & Tuur Van Balen (2016) —

Cohen and Van Balen created stainless steel sheets electroplated with nickel, tin and gold. The metals were extracted from the Democratic Republic of Congo, for use in China's high-tech electronics industry. The effect resembles both the background of a 17th Century Dutch seascape and the hull of a ship, highlighting the global churn of materials shipping enables.

Revital Cohen & Tuur Van Balen

"What the lighthouses taught me (July 5, 11:30am--1:13pm, outside bridge facing East, between China and Hong Kong waters, ZIM Qingdao)", by Samson Young (2016) —

Made using pencil, color pencil, water color, pastel, and stamp on paper, some of the drawings feature bemused comments from the ship's crew.

Samson Young

"Dissolution (I Know Nothing)" (video still), by Revital Cohen & Tuur Van Balen (2016) —

The London-based duo pair their large steel sheets with a video installation which juxtaposes scenes from African and Chinese life and industry with vast, overwhelming seascapes.

Revital Cohen & Tuur Van Balen

"Voyage 51 East", by Erin Diebboll (2016) —

Diebboll comments on the fact that the ship workers don't know, or care, about the contents of each container: once loaded, it's all just faceless cargo to be moved around the world.

Erin Diebboll

"Flags of Convenience", by Ferenc Gróf (2016) —

Hungarian artist Gróf used photos captured during his journey and printed them onto fabric to resemble the "flags of convenience," a process by which some 40% of vessels are registered in foreign countries such as Panama or the Marshall Islands, in order to save on costs.

Ferenc Gróf

This project from Hong Kong duo <a href="http://www.zhengmahler.com/" target="_blank" target="_blank">Zheng Mahler</a> is part of a three-year-long exploration of globalized processes. It started as a collaboration with a Somali asylum seeker to import two tons of abalone, which were then shipped to exhibitions in Dubai and Zurich, before being forwarded to China. In the country's pottery capital of Jingdezhen, the calcium carbonate was then extracted from the abalone shells and turned into a porcelain glaze.

"A Season in Shell", by Zheng Mahler (2016) —

This project from Hong Kong duo Zheng Mahler is part of a three-year-long exploration of globalized processes. It started as a collaboration with a Somali asylum seeker to import two tons of abalone, which were then shipped to exhibitions in Dubai and Zurich, before being forwarded to China. In the country's pottery capital of Jingdezhen, the calcium carbonate was then extracted from the abalone shells and turned into a porcelain glaze.

Zheng Mahler

"What the lighthouses taught me (July 5, 11:30am--1:13pm, outside bridge facing East, between China and Hong Kong waters, ZIM Qingdao)", by Samson Young (2016) —

Hong Kong artist Samson Young's 'sound sketches' look almost like maritime charts, forming a depiction of the sounds of a life at sea.

Samson Young

"Three Arguments about the Opium War" (video still), by James T. Hong, (2016) —

American filmmaker James T. Hong takes part in a series of additional exhibits at Para Site gallery investigating Hong Kong's defining maritime event -- the First Opium War.

James T. Hong

"Three Arguments about the Opium War" (video still), by James T. Hong, (2016) —

Hong presents an exhibit masquerading as a war museum, with maps, toy soldiers and opposing video installations (pictured), which together ask questions about morality and self-justification.

James T. Hong

While not part of the Container Artist Residency program, works by Chinese duo of Guo and Zhang are included in the <a href="http://www.para-site.org.hk/en/exhibitions/creative-operational-solutions" target="_blank" target="_blank">Creative Operational Solutions</a> exhibition. The pair embarked on an 86-day-long cruise around the world and developed a body of objects, text and images that create a fictional travel narrative for the viewer to unravel.<br />

"An Iron Hearted Man", by Guo Xi & Zhang Jianling (2016) —

While not part of the Container Artist Residency program, works by Chinese duo of Guo and Zhang are included in the Creative Operational Solutions exhibition. The pair embarked on an 86-day-long cruise around the world and developed a body of objects, text and images that create a fictional travel narrative for the viewer to unravel.

Guo Xi & Zhang Jianling

"Window", by Maayan Strauss (2011) —

Although originally conceived as a cheap way to travel back to graduate school in the US, Strauss eventually used the experience as inspiration for the Container Artist Residency program, which she founded.

Maayan Strauss

"Containment or Integration", by Christopher Page (2016) —

The crates can also be taken apart and hung on a wall as 'Integration,' with the insides of the crates facing outwards. In this configuration, the flat wood panels of the insides have been airbrushed to give the illusion that they are three-dimensional exteriors. Page paid asylum-seeking migrants in Greece the minimum wage to paint the base layer, adding to his commentary on identity and displacement.

Christopher Page