Shipbuilding
Transformations
Made in 2017
The artwork Shipbuilding shows a submarine skeleton made of wire, placed on a metal plate. The work is conceived in such a way that its form inevitably changes: the five meters of wire used to construct the skeleton are set alight and slowly dissolve into smoke and ash. The installation is built from rattan and fragrant Indian darshan incense powder. As the hours pass and the fire progresses, the sculpture shrinks. All that remains of the submarine are ashes, pearls, and small connecting pieces.
The work is inspired by the song Shipbuilding, written by Elvis Costello (lyrics) and Clive Langer (music), in response to the Falklands War of 1982. The song highlights the tension between, on the one hand, the employment and prosperity brought by the arms industry — in this case, the shipyards — and, on the other, the human cost of war: the inevitable death of young soldiers sent into battle.
This problem remains urgent today. Symbolically, the submarine perishes into dust and ash; countless victims fall. The pearls, symbols of wealth, remain in the ashes until a new treasure-seeker picks them up.
In 2018, the submarine was actually set on fire and filmed. The burning process lasted 19 hours in real time. The artwork can be re-created upon request.
The two video works on this page are 3D animations showing the nineteen-hour process in accelerated form. In the upper work, sunlight falls through the window, marking the passage of time. The lower video presents a short version of this process, displayed across six flat screens.
Process Photos
