An argument for inclusion in the exhibition Radical Seafaring. http://parrishart.org/RadicalSeafaring

My decision not to go to sea singlehanded in my boat Bullitt is the same decision  a gallery-goer makes upon entering an exhibition:  the desire to share the vision of an artist as a student of the arts or the the wish to cohort with the artist and share the experience of the art without necessarily engaging in the process of being the artist and creating the artifact.  Moreover, the requirement that one must have a studio and a gallery as a requirement is often a line which distinguishes a exhibitor from the viewing public.  It is as if the captain must have a ship to commit a voyage. . .

Indeed, I did not go to sea, so it is as if the real Thoreau did not go to Walden. And, it is as if I made a decision not to be a member of the college of circumnavigators by entering the gallery of those who witness those circumnavigators, so be it.

The premiss of the " Radical Seafarer" includes the act of Exploration for the purpose of gaining new experiences; Liberation, for a self reliant process; Fieldwork, for the act gathering information; and Speculation, namely, using the waterways as a stage.  All this, is akin to asking an artist to go to sea, alone, in a boat.  A voyage where the participant is the artifact, where there is no admittance for the gallery- goer.

The presumption that an artifact must be seen is fundamental to the act of inclusion in the company of artists.  It goes back to the question of whether an artwork is a representation of reality and it goes back to whether the artifact is the sign or the signifier.  It goes back to the relationship between the artist and the gallery-goer.

The creative mind necessary to envision the voyage without necessarily attending to it and the ability to witness the voyage as if it exists is the hallmark of the Radical Seafarer.  When I look at the works the curators have chosen to include in the exhibition, I see evidence of a voyage, but it seems each artist has brought back more than the customary collection of seashells, photographs and tales.  What they have brought is an object that is a voyage in itself.

My vessels of intention are that voyage too: from the many blog posts inspired by the act of creating then, to the many vessels that I have created.  And, mostly, to the hope that the end user is able to create his own voyage through the use of the vessel.  A voyage of interpretation of meaning,  a voyage of commitment to the environment, and a vessel to hold ones experience of the voyage.  I describe my vessels as: " sailing lore, sacred geometry, and environmentalism woven with intention to accompany you on your voyage".

                          vesselsofintention.blogspot.com

Although I still plan to execute the circumnavigation,  the result of my trepidation, is a vessel of intention.  Not only do these vessels subsititute for the void created in my personal life for not embarking, they serve as a remedy for the detachment I feel from the world I shudder to live in.  This art serves me because I feel spiritually, emotionally, and physically connected to my creations, yet simultaneously detached.  It is as if the art is there to give me something the real world cannot deliver.

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