Untitled (Pirate Act no.1) Naples

with Siebren Versteeg

April 10, 2009

imgp0364.jpg

The boat is almost ready for its next mission,

imgp0196.jpg

but I decided to head to Naples without it, to see my friend Siebren Versteeg.

imgp0226.jpg

He is participating in an art project at the Palzzo della Arti in Naples called ‘Emergency Room’ by the Danish artist Thierry Geoffroy.

imgp0202.jpg

The idea is that artists come every day and make work in relation to current events – ’emergencies’.

imgp0190.jpg

As an artist,Siebren is a great choice to participate in ‘Emergency Room’. His program based sculptures sometimes incorporate actual live news feeds – like this piece from 2003. It looks like a video of text scrolling by in the ‘coca-cola’ font, but actually it is a computer program that culls the internet for Asociated Press headlines and passes them continually across the screen.

imgp0204.jpg

He told me about the projects they had done over the past week and we tried to come up with something good for the following day. The story that I had been following in the news was about an American sea captain held for ransom off the coast of Somalia.

imgp0198.jpg

“I guess we have to take over the gallery – hold it for ransom.” suggested Siebren.

imgp0293.jpg

“I think this might be in violation of some of the rules of ‘Emergency Room’.” I worried.

imgp0213.jpg

“You can’t make art about piracy without breaking the rules,” said Siebren.

imgp0235.jpg

What should our demands be? What are the pirates asking for? It has to be something huge and impossible.

imgp0250.jpg

No one gets in here until there is free wireless internet access throughout the museum…

imgp0243.jpg

“If we had internet access, we could find out what is happening with Captain Richard Philips.” I said.

“How can a cultural institution expect its employees to research without reliable access to the internet?” wondered Siebren.

imgp0252.jpg

We could hear people on the other side of the barricade. They wanted in.

imgp0256.jpg

Negotiations started out amicably enough,

imgp0291.jpg

but broke down rapidly.

picture-1.jpg

Soon the other artists removed the barricade and came in.

imgp0263.jpg

I suppose if we really wanted to get the internet up and running, I would have threatened to kill Siebren if anyone came into the gallery.

imgp0272.jpg

In a discussion later, one of the other artists said that he didn’t really see how our act related to piracy. As an artwork, it didn’t seem commensurate with the events in the Indian Ocean. No shit – I was thinking.

imgp0274.jpg

But Siebren spoke articulately about the piece – about how an art project can be scaled in relation to the museum and this specific situation.

imgp0318.jpg

Later that afternoon, we headed down to the coast – a spot recommended by one of the artists.

imgp0327.jpg

There were people grilling fish and playing ball.

imgp0333.jpg

It was hard to believe that 4228 miles away (by boat through the Suez Canal), Captain Richard Phillips was being held for ransom in a small life raft.

imgp0345.jpg

Can this even be the same ocean?

imgp0352.jpg

We walked back into Naples as the sun was setting,

imgp0358.jpg

and admired the boats and buildings piled up against its shores.

↑ Return to Top of Page ↑