Aboard commercial cargo ships is where the Container Artist Residency 01 program is finding its abode. Completely isolated from the rest of the world, the Residency allows its artists to work in a remote space with no tangible lines of communication to the outside world. The residency’s geographic location can only be defined in relation to the existing shipping routes and destinations that form the backdrop of global trade.
The founder and director of the Residency, Mayaan Strauss, came up with the idea after she decided to voyage from graduate school in the US back home to Israel. Discovering that the airfare for herself and her art was astronomical, she boarded a cargo ship instead. The first body of work was based on her experiences living on the ship and now the inaugural residency has eight artists from all over the world, stopping in various ports across the globe whilst they work on the exhibition that their trip will culminate in.
‘As an artist, it was interesting and thought-provoking to find myself in this environment,’ says Strauss. ‘First, the idea of travelling with physical commodities was conceptually challenging and inspiring. Also, spending time among a working crew, that had fixed responsibilities and operational structures, provided me with a new lens to think through my own practice and role as an artist,’ she continues.
From a few thousands applicants, only seven were chosen for the six week voyage, which follows a route of their choice. This includes the Russian artist Mari Bastashevski, who will travel to Odessa, Haifa, Nhava Sheva, Port Klang, Da Chan Bay, Pusan and Shanghai; and the American artist Tyler Coburn, who is routing through New York, Norfolk and Savannah in the USA, before heading to Valencia, Tarragona, Livorno and Ashdod in Israel.
Each artist not only receives accommodation and studio space on board, but also an honorarium and production funding. The fruits of their labour will be exhibited later this year.
The residency’s geographic location can only be defined in relation to the existing shipping routes and destinations that form the backdrop of global trade. Pictured: Genova, by Mayaan Strauss, 2011
Strauss came up with the idea after she decided to voyage from graduate school back home to Israel. Discovering that the airfare for herself and her art was astronomical, she boarded a cargo ship instead. Pictured: Smoke, by Mayaan Strauss, 2011
From a few thousands applicants, only seven were chosen for the six week voyage, which follows a route of their choice. Pictured: Greek Crane, by Mayaan Strauss, 2011
From a few thousands applicants, only seven were chosen for the six week voyage, which follows a route of their choice. Pictured: Greek Crane, by Mayaan Strauss, 2011
Each artist not only receives accommodation and studio space on board, but also an honorarium and production funding. The work will be exhibited later this year. Pictured: Table, by Mayaan Strauss, 2011
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Container Artist Residency's website
-
First look – Bottega Veneta and Flos release a special edition of the Model 600Gino Sarfatti’s fan favourite from 1966 is born again with Bottega Veneta’s signature treatments gracing its leather base
-
We stepped inside the Stedelijk Museum's newest addition in AmsterdamAmsterdam's Stedelijk Museum has unveiled its latest addition, the brand-new Don Quixote Sculpture Hall by Paul Cournet of Rotterdam creative agency Cloud
-
On a sloped Los Angeles site, a cascade of green 'boxes' offers inside outside livingUnStack, a house by FreelandBuck, is a cascading series of bright green volumes, with mountain views
-
On a sloped Los Angeles site, a cascade of green 'boxes' offers inside outside living
UnStack, a house by FreelandBuck, is a cascading series of bright green volumes, with mountain views
-
This New York brownstone was transformed through the power of a single, clever moveVoid House, a New York brownstone reimagined by architecture studio Light and Air, is an interior transformed through the power of one smart move
-
A new Texas house transforms a sloping plot into a multi-layered family homeThe Griggs Residence is a Texas house that shields its interior world and spacious terraces with a stone and steel façade
-
Light, nature and modernist architecture: welcome to the reimagined Longwood GardensLongwood Gardens and its modernist Roberto Burle Marx-designed greenhouse get a makeover by Weiss/Manfredi and Reed Hildebrand in the US
-
A bridge in Buffalo heralds a new era for the city's LaSalle ParkA new Buffalo bridge offers pedestrian access over busy traffic for the local community, courtesy of schlaich bergermann partner
-
Tour this Bel Vista house by Albert Frey, restored to its former glory in Palm SpringsAn Albert Frey Bel Vista house has been restored and praised for its revival - just in time for the 2025 Palm Springs Modernism Week Preview
-
First look: step inside 144 Vanderbilt, Tankhouse and SO-IL’s new Brooklyn projectThe first finished duplex inside Tankhouse and SO-IL’s 144 Vanderbilt in Fort Greene is a hyper-local design gallery curated by Brooklyn studio General Assembly
-
Tour Ray's Seagram Building HQ, an ode to art and modernism in New York CityReal estate venture Ray’s Seagram Building HQ in New York is a homage to corporate modernism
