Shared Thoughts from the Team

We are 5 friends, wanting to travel by boat by the coast, stopping on different cities , then going around the globe, stopping by differents countries of different cultures on different continents. Art, by different means is a big part of our willingness to share ideas in between us and others as much as creating contacts in between peoples of different places.  

Our project is based on meeting, communication and willingness of sharing ideas, thoughts and projects with others. Many means allow that communication, especially art. 

Art is here thought as communication , both as between the artist and the audiance, and as the artists themselfs, which is potentially anybody. Which means that our goal is not only to show art to people to try to make them understand, or think what we think is right or good, but really be a way to express themselves by doing it. To us, art under all its forms has a social power. 

We are 5 friends, wanting to travel by boat by the coast, stopping on different cities. (and then south outside usa,dominican republic , jamaica, haiti...)

Art, by different means being a big part of our willingness to share ideas in between us and others as much as creating contacts in between peoples of different places. 

Practically, the art project would consist of 3 parts, organizing a community and get support around the project on internet, create art on different places and finnally connect communities and peoples around art projects.

For the first one, having an open place to share our ideas and get new ones from others, debate about the goals of art and the ways of reaching peoples that are usually not seeing art as a way to express themselves, is a necessary and usefull thing. Also to get support and make contacts with communities, schools or other groups.

Then teach, create and show art, i.e after getting peoples (by sending mails , letters, or talking to representants of schools or organisations, or individuals) and a place , giving them first the material means of making art ( pencils, paper, paint, rocs, wood... ) and offering our experience of the many techniques we know.

Having a boat on that process is a big help, because more than being a way to travel, easily meet people and transport a lot of material, it offers a place to create that is always available for small groups up to 10 people.

Strongly believing that expressing yourself is following the purpose of being proud of yourself, understanding yourself better and asking yourself questions of how to be someone better, Art under all the ways we are imagining it is a mean to find solutions of everyday problems , a step closer to freedom and solidarty.

We want to propose art under the ways of photography, painting, sculpture, dance, circus, music...

Hopefully, we can create structures that will continue existing after we leave a place, especially by getting material support ( money, material) from organisations and individuals.

Finally, traveling around will give us the opportunity of creating a web of small groups of artists that could communicate (internet, mail, maybe meetings) and help each others , as much as having the weight of a known NGO to show their and our art to an audience, to express our views on the world , society, peoples... and try to pass on our feelings and ideas.

As a conclusion, I believe our willingness to understand and change our world is based on the idea that we should all have the possibility to express ourselves, and art is the universal langage in which we may all communicate, understand and then love each other.

Our project has as a goal to share, have fun, meet others, get richer (not monetarily of course), discover and maybe help if we can.  


--Julien Pernot

Doing things differently

As we get things rolling with ArtShip’s administration and development, questions may arise focusing on more clear and specific objectives of the project.  As we continue pursuing this venture, we hope to construct a communicable and thorough source that illustrates our ideas.  But one of the most important questions to answer currently is simply: Why are we doing this?  And what that question relates to is “What are the benefits of a project like this?”  “What can we contribute to our community by participating in the ArtShip mission?”  “Why does it have to be on a boat?”  The most important answer we are trying to provide is that art should be publicly accessible and can provide cultural enrichment to all communities around the globe.  Our goal is to collaborate with seaside communities whose presence of public arts vary, and to create local artistic initiatives with cooperating organizations, collectives, and venues in effort to support public artistic expression and offer relevant creative resources to a participating community audience.

We are facing a period of time when domains for artistic opportunity are more important than ever.  If we are to take a big hit in our national spending on the arts, we need to take it upon ourselves to come up with positive alternatives for bringing art to the people and art that can be interpreted and expressed by and for everyone.  Community art projects have had a long history in promoting cultural cohesiveness.  To ask why are community art projects important is like asking why art in general is important.  In my opinion, community and public art is more deeply rooted with artistic expression in its truest form than other artistic motives.  It helps us all to enjoy, challenge, and understand ourselves.  It brings people together, and sparks forums of conversation that clarifies to us all that we have individual strengths, opinions, and emotions that can and need to be shared.  It allows for one person in a small fishing town to come together with his or her neighbor and appreciate aesthetic and conceptual beauty together, and to enjoy the perks that creativity can bring to their home environment.

As far as the reason for taking this idea on a boat, I think the best question to ask is “why not on a boat?”  If there is an alternative setting, a new “so to speak market” that we haven’t tapped into artistically, why shouldn’t we explore this?  What the Artship provides is a new kind of venue; a new insight into viewing, learning, and expressing public art.  Alternative environments are increasingly important in our understanding and insight into the different worlds (yes that is plural for a reason) that art inhabits.  One could easily ask why start an art space in an old factory building.  The reason is that we as viewers interact with unconventional art outlets with intrigue into the space being part of the artwork itself.  Our goal with the Artship is to merge our public community artistic pursuits with this new atmosphere.  Of course all of this is meaningless without enjoyment and engaging motivation.  This is exactly what we see Artship accomplishing. 

Posted by Co-member Gabe Strader-Brown

Why ArtShip?

When you wake up in the morning and continue along your day to day routine, do you ever stop to wonder- why am I doing this? Maybe you ask yourself this everyday and do nothing to change it. Once in a while I think it's good to let this question settle in, and not simply respond as if in that monotone answer to the typical conversation starter question- so what do you do? Instead ask yourself occasionally- what am I doing that really correlates to what I want from life, do I actually want this. 


In this day and age we have the opportunity, challenge and pressure to choose our individualistic path. However this pressure to obtain resume highlights borders on obsessive planning rather than simply enjoying the natural flow and adventures of life. So when you ask yourself these societally-embedded questions, naturally there is no ten second answer. But the refreshing thing is that when you ask yourself, you're not under the pressure of trying to show off your achievements to the stranger in an elevator ride timeframe. 


Since returning to the States, I wanted to seriously consider why I am so impassioned about the dream of our Artship. Also, if I am so impassioned, why I am committing to a resume impressive lifestyle back in New York rather than simply jumping aboard a sailing vessel and heading for the desired seas. Retrospectively it is easy to answer- the Artship is not solely a journey out at sea and creation of art projects in ports, it is a movement towards learning the art of living and sharing that experience. 


I believe strongly that if we share the experience of reevaluating our desires through more than intellectual/accultured responses but also our sensational and inner nature, we will learn to feel more satisfied with our path while living a life that benefits others. Art, in a basic definition, is something valued of extraordinary significance based on aesthetic principles. Therefore I see it as a tool for reevaluation, I see it as potential and expression of something greater than one perspective of intellectual reasoning. My desire is for the Artship to be a symbolic and functional vessel, carrying a team that uses art to work with others, encouraging them to reevaluate the dominating art of living in their community. It is time to not simply ask: what am I doing? or why am I doing this? We have the ability to ask ourselves: what do we want to change, and how do we do it?


When I consider the why am I doing this (the Artship), I uncovered my deepest desires. Now you might think that I've gotten too granola-crunchy free-spirited again, but then I highly encourage you (wait, challenge you!) to do this exercise on your own. Share if you'd like, or simply keep your written words tucked away for your personal indulgences of your heart. Here's a link your task: 
Three Deepest Desire Exercise


And here is my response. Just something I thought appropriate for the development of this project, a step of clarifying my desired art of living. It includes:




The ART of Love: 
Eric Fromm states it eloquently in Die Kunst des Liebens (The Art of Loving)- "The first thing we have to learn is that love is an art, just as living is an art; if we want to learn how to love we must proceed in the same way we have to proceed if we want to learn any other art. Maybe here lies the answer to the question of why people in our culture try so rarely to learn this art, in spite of their obvious failures: in spite of the deep-seated craving for love, almost everything else is considered to be more important than love: success, prestige, money, power - almost all our energy is used for learning of how to achieve these aims, and almost none to learn the art of loving."
My desire is to live harmoniously with others, nature, and my own being. I want more than just to be witness to love, feel loved, or love others, I want to truly embrace and feel its everpresent existence.  






The ART of Peace:
Peace comes from the self, and inherently cannot be forced upon you or taught to you by others. It is a willing acceptance of an inner stillness and understanding. While simultaneously forming an encapsulating protection of your inner awareness, you are aware to the conflict that surrounds you. Peace is a practice, and like any manner of being, it is supported by habitual diligence of focus. 
Whether I am out at sea on a boat, cruising down the busy avenues of New York on my bike, or lying awake on my bed, no matter where I am I find ways of centering myself in peace. The Artship is not a distant goal in which I want to obtain peace, rather through peace I will arrive at the goal of this Artship. Through peace I will follow the right path.






The ART of Light
The way in which we see this world is nothing but reflections of light. Light is literally energy that nourishes the body, mind and spirit. This desire is directed towards learning how best to nourish my body, and in turn share that with others.  I know that even if I let my light shine (can't help but sing), the world would be a brighter place; and just imagine if we shone as enlightened communities. Wow, the most pun-filled sentence I wrote yet. 


The desire to live and learn the art of these principles is the guiding force for my passion, my communication, and my daily choices. My daily choice is to find the art * the extraordinary significance in my actions. Know that your actions and desires do make a difference.


Seek out what you desire most.
With Peace, Love and Light


Artship Team Member: Kyra

Tracking the Adventure begins!

So if you're at this site, you've probably heard the rumor already about our dream to set sail on a long-term social art project. This blog is meant to share the process with you because we are on this venture to enjoy the journey, not just the destinations. As we are in the planning stages please feel free to comment, post, and ask questions. We look forward to this being a wide-reaching process that will spawn creativity, personal inspirations, and community engagement.


The first exciting news to share: we were accepted to the School of Visual Arts National Conference on Liberal Arts and the Education of Artists taking place at the end of October in NYC.  Below is our proposal, an introduction to this our concept:

Proposal

On the sails of creativity and interpersonal connection, an international team of artists created a social project using art as a wide-reaching social and economic tool. ARTship proposes to circumnavigate the world, a sailing trip to connect waves of networks. They will share an international perspective in local contexts to revitalize urban port areas with specified community art projects. Using performance, visual and communicative arts, the trip is a multi-dimensional art form designated for community organizing. The team intends to initiate art projects in prearranged cities, working with divisional organizations in order to have a creative start, sustainable goal, and documented evolution.

Sailing into this venture, it will be a shared experience amongst the artistic members and engaged locals. The ultimate goal of community participation and visualized initiatives will naturally evolve- with the plan that local leaders will further manage these projects. The trip will be filmed and documented for hindsight of learning and communication.

Although this project is in the planning stages, we are looking consistently for further development and idea exchange. This group experience is a service outreach to all the networks we know and grow to know. We want to think outside the box, expand, and challenge ourselves, and encourage others to do the same, to contribute ideas and energy towards improving our own communities.  

We hope to see you on the water (or this virtual network) soon!

Signing out for now ARTship team