Stories of sea journeys mesmerize readers with images of longing, discoveries, hardship and survival, of determination and being lost, of the width of the open sea, the magic of foreign destinations; they tell us how men and women face up to the elements of wind and water, how they defeat them or are defeated. But how and why do contemporary artists access the theme of sea journeys, what are their motivations and intentions, and which modes of expression do they employ?
The exhibition Voyage: sea journeys, island hopping and trans-oceanic concepts was held at Künstlerhaus Dortmund, Germany in 2013, curated by Imi Maufe and Rona Rangsch. Voyage, purposefully shown in a land-locked city, brought together artists whose works explored the theme in often subtle and less obvious ways than one would expect. The curators wanted Voyage to tour, and so they commissioned Voyage Boxed: 'a creative answer to the issues involved with touring exhibitions.' This miniature version of the exhibition is reminiscent of the ‘ditty boxes’, containers in which sailors on long sea voyages kept their precious belongings, and which Scottish artist John Cumming pays tribute to in his work.
Voyage Boxed aims to represent the original exhibition as a multiple edition in a format of just 14.8x 14.8cm. The box includes a collection of artworks by 16 of the Voyage artists and the two artist-curators, and the original exhibition catalogue. Voyage Boxed has been produced as a limited edition of 50.
Contributing artists: Peter Bennett (UK), Nancy Campbell (UK) with Roni Gross (USA), John Cumming (UK), David Faithfull (UK), Andrew Friend (UK), Lutz Fritsch (DE), Matthew Herring (UK), Gunnar Jonsson (IS), Simon Le Ruez (UK/DE) David Lilburn (IR), Imi Maufe (UK/NO), Rona Rangsch (DE), Ding Ren (USA), Aslak Gurholt Rønsen (NO), Ian Stephen with Christine Morrison (UK), Jeff Talman (USA), Sally Waterman (UK), and Philippa Wood (UK).
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