Seven Artists “Won” the Chance to Make Art on a Cargo Ship

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Who travels the high seas on a cargo ship? Sailors, pirates, and, now, artists. A cohort of seven artists have been selected for the first-ever Container Artist Residency, which offers funding for three-week creative sojourns to make art while riding on a cargo ship.

After reviewing more than 2,000 candidates, the residency announced Tuesday that Mari Bastashevski, Tyler Coburn, duo Tuur Van Balen and Revital Cohen, Erin Diebboll, Ferenc Gróf, Christopher Page, and Samson Young have been selected to take their chosen trip. (Picking a start- and end-point was part of the application.) The artists come from five countries, including Russia, Hong Kong, and the U.S., and work in a variety of disciplines, including drawing, sculpture, film, audio, and writing.

“While the project takes the maritime shipping industry to be the embodiment of the infrastructures on which contemporary art relies and today’s dominant cultural-economic force,” said residency director Maayan Strauss, “we are looking forward to seeing how this specific context for art-making can impact different kinds of practice.”

Before you ask: No, they will not live in a container. According to ArtNet, the artists will have a small private cabin on their ships, plus dedicated studio space. They will also receive $1,000 for travel expenses and up to $5,000 to cover equipment and materials.

The projects created during the residency will be shown at a series of exhibitions worldwide in 2016 and 2017.