ÅFJORD ART MONTH
November 3 2023
SHIP SHOP was a socially engaged installation developed during Åfjord Art Month in Stokkøya, Norway, in 2023. Within the picturesque landscape, I found a grey patch that turned out to be a scrapyard where retired ships were dismantled.
During the research phase of the art residency, a huge ship that had travelled around the world to study earthquakes was being dismantled there. The ship contained furniture, tools, cabinets for the flags of different countries, detergent from the Emirates, porn DVDs, Christmas decorations, technical equipment, and many other objects. Sorting and reselling the furniture and objects from the ship would have cost more than simply throwing them away.
I received permission to rescue any objects I found inside the ship, so I decided to collect them and present them at the local shopping centre in a temporary SHIP SHOP. The money generated through the project was directed towards supporting a country affected by an earthquake, extending the ship’s history of travel into a new form of solidarity.
The installation explored how an existing structure and its contents could be reused rather than discarded, and how artistic intervention could create new social and symbolic value. It brought together reuse, exploration through found objects, exchange, and collective care within a temporary public artwork.
