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    10,000 Letters Dangle from the Ceiling in an Immersive Installation by Artist Chiharu Shiota

    
    Art

    #boats
    #installation
    #letters
    #thread

    March 12, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    “I hope…” (2021), rope, paper, steel, installation view at König Galerie, Berlin. All images by Sunhi Mang, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, courtesy of the artist, shared with permission
    A towering expanse of red thread, a new installation by Chiharu Shiota (previously) suspends 10,000 letters within the nave of Berlin’s König Galerie, a Brutalist-style space located in the former St. Agnes church. The immersive construction runs floor to ceiling and is awash with notes from people around the world who share their dreams following a particularly devastating year. Aptly named “I hope…,” the large-scale project hangs two wire boats that appear to float upward at its center, evoking travel into an unknown future.
    For this collaborative installation, the Japanese artist, who’s lived in Berlin for the last two decades, draws on a similar piece from 2015 titled “The Key in the Hand.” That earlier work similarly utilizes gathered objects and bright red thread, although it trapped 50,000 keys in a web that swelled from a wooden boat. In this iteration, however, Shiota lets the strands fall loosely and connects them to paper notes, leaving the individual elements open to movement and change.
    “I hope…” is on view through March 21, and there’s a video tour of the staggering project if you can’t see it in-person. Follow Shiota on Instagram to keep up with her sweeping installations that weave common objects into vast networks of fiber. (via designboom)

    #boats
    #installation
    #letters
    #thread

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    Banksy Finances ‘Louise Michel’ Lifeboat to Rescue Refugees From the Mediterranean

    
    Amazing
    Art

    #Banksy
    #boats
    #migration
    #refugees

    August 31, 2020
    Grace Ebert

    All images © Louise Michel, shared with permission
    Banksy’s latest artwork can be spotted on a vessel rescuing refugees from north Africa, who are attempting to cross the Mediterranean to find safety in Europe. The anonymous British artist, whose work we’ve talked about extensively, used the proceeds from the sale of an artwork to purchase a former French Navy boat, which is named after anarchist Louise Michel. With a fire extinguisher, Banksy sprayed the exterior with pink paint and adorned it with a version of the iconic “Girl with Balloon.” This iteration outfits the child with a lifevest and swaps the red heart with a pink flotation device.
    The project was conceived of in September 2019 when Banksy contacted Pia Klemp, who led several missions with NGO boats to rescue refugees. “Hello Pia, I’ve read about your story in the papers. You sound like a badass. I am an artist from the UK and I’ve made some work about the migrant crisis, obviously I can’t keep the money. Could you use it to buy a new boat or something? Please let me know. Well done. Banksy,” the artist wrote, according to The Guardian.
    Now, Klemp and a professional rescue team helm the 31-meter lifeboat, which already has brought aboard hundreds of refugees. Capable of at least 27 knots, the boat is faster than most ships, allowing it to reach people faster and “hopefully outrun the so-called Libyan coastguard,” Klemp says. The project’s mission is explained on its site:
    It might seem incredible there is need for a homemade emergency vehicle in one of Europe’s busiest waterways, but there is. The migrant crisis means that European states are instructing their Coastguard not to answer distress calls from ‘non-Europeans’ leaving desperate people to drift helplessly at sea. To make matters worse authorities prevent other boats from providing assistance, arresting crews and impounding boats that do.
    This past weekend, the Italian Coast Guard responded to distress calls from the vessel after it became overloaded with passengers, at one point carrying 219 refugees and 10 crew members on the main ship, with 33 people still in rafts floating alongside. The agency evacuated 49 migrants along with the boat Sea-Watch 4, which brought aboard another 150.
    To help aid the efforts, you can make a donation, and follow the crew in a live feed on Twitter.

    #Banksy
    #boats
    #migration
    #refugees

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