Ship-spotting
When I proposed this exhibition at Landguard Fort in November 2010, this is what I said. ‘A TEU is 20 x 8ft and the volume this creates is 1,280 square feet. How can 1,280 square feet be transformed from numbers on a page to something we can share and experience within the casemates and surrounding area of the fort?’
The question is a personal one because essentially I don’t get how big big is when it comes to Felixstowe port, the ships and the boxes. I particularly don’t get it when I think of all the things in my flat and in my bag, that at one point sat in a box, inside a larger box, inside a container box. The aim of this exhibition was to, again in my 2010 words ‘see if a more successful language could be created to understand the gargantuan nature of this port and its impact.’
As part of my exhibition I’ve made some objects, which I hope might help me to do this, and I shall be hosting five viewing parties next week in Felixstowe for anyone else similarly perplexed or who just like watching the boats come in. I’ll be the one with the constructions for drawing with, at the viewing point, at the end of the prettily and aptly named viewpoint road, or join me 15 minutes prior to stated shipping times at Landguard Fort for some facts, statistics and musings on the nature of optics.
Monday 22nd August: 17.00 the MSC Kim makes it’s first port call and I can’t think of a better boat to start with
Tuesday 23rd August: 17.00 the acronym isn’t quite enough – it’s the China Ocean Shipping Company
Wednesday 24th August: 12.00 The other giant of the week, but still Emma’s little sister, Maersk Antares
(More times to come when I get the data VT)