Adam Chodzko
Echo, The Pickers and Ghost
UPDATE: more dates for Ghost trips to Deadman's Island announced:
21st July – 8th August 2010.
Wednesdays: 4pm – 7p.m. Sundays: 10.30a.m – 1p.m. There are no trips available on 1st August 2010
Ghost is a custom-built kayak that arises out of a film work, Echo, which was made at Deadman's Island, off the coast of the Isle of Sheppy in Kent, and Governor's Island in New York. Echo, together with a second film The Pickers will be exhibited at the Whitstable Biennale 2010 alongside the new work, Ghost.
Ghost is currently being built to Adam Chodzko's design, by Glyn Edwards in Whitstable, one of very few wooden kayak builders in the UK (www.glynedwardskayaks.co.uk).
Between 21-23 June Ghost will be paddled from Whitstable to the Isle of Sheppey, where it will take people to Deadman's Island, a small island off Queenborough, Isle of Sheppey. Deadman’s Island is so called because it was used as a burial site for bodies of people who had died on the prison hulks moored in the Swale in the 19th Century. So Ghost is a vessel for visiting the dead.
A rower sits in the back of the two-man kayak, and a member of the public in the front. The passenger can paddle but when approaching Deadman’s Island can lie down low and flat, like a body in a coffin with their head slightly raised.
A video camera in the bow will record each journey of the kayak from just above the waterline looking in the direction of its destination. Therefore Ghost generates a record of its own journeys and this footage will be archived as each passenger makes their own unique journey.
To book a place on the Deadman's Island trips, contact Chris Reed by email on chrisonsheppey@aol.com or by telephone at 07542 260398.
Chodzko has exhibited extensively in international solo and group exhibitions including: Tate, St Ives; Museo d'Arte Moderna, Istanbul Biennale, Venice Biennale; Royal Academy, London; PS1, NY; Ikon Gallery, Birmingham. Recent projects include commissions by Creative Time, New York, The Contemporary Art Society, Frieze Art Fair, and Hayward Gallery. His work is in many major collections.
He is taking part in a symposium on 9 June at the University of Kent, with speakers Irit Rogoff (Goldsmith’s) and Jon Dovey (Un. of West of England). Panels with artists and academics: Adam Chodzko, Brian Dillon, Jeremy Millar, Lauren Wright, Sarah Turner, Elizabeth Cowie and Michael Newall. See here for more information.
The Old Nelson Pub, Harbour Street
10:00-18:00 Tuesday, and Thursday - Sunday
Ghost 2010
Wood and mixed media kayak with enclosed camera
22’ x 30” x 20”
Echo 2009
Single Screen video installation with sound
14 mins 30 secs
The Pickers 2009
Single Screen video with sound
17 mins 52 secs
Supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, Arts Council England South East, Screen South, University of Kent, Swale Borough Council, and Art at the Centre.