Venice - finally

The boat has reached the lagoon. Even though it is now closer to its natural surrounding it looks like a vulnerable foreign matter next to the beautiful Palazzi and the maritime hustle and bustle.
After three weeks in the mountains the red lady has reached its destination, and is waiting for its asignation... today at 17.00.

Photo: Stefan Huber

Sisyphus has no need to be worried about his way down. But when trying to bring a boat down a mountain in one piece, maximum caution is advised. Almost the greatest possible disaster happened, where it is not only about the existence of the boat, but one's own health was at stake. The shock is deep-seated, but absolutely target-oriented the project is approaching its next destination. The near end of the drag on the mountain in mind, the daily ritual becomes even more a torment... at least for two more days, if all goes well. And then the breakthrough to the promised Venice....

CS

THE CHALLENGES OF THE UNFATHOMABLE

Me: I have reason to believe that infinity and the roaring of the seas belong together.

The Sea: So what?

Me: But it’s just great!

The Sea: Then just listen to how I go roaring through you!

71% of the Earth is covered by water, the life-giving element that cleanses, quenches thirst, and yet also has another, more ugly face: one that is engulfing, destructive and cold. The unfathomable deepness of the ocean is a dark force. The sea forms a natural boundary around the human habitat. In the ancient world humanity declared the sea a sphere attributed to the gods in an attempt to grasp the unpredictability of the sea and the dangers it concealed. It is also expressed by a haiku: The sea a mirror. / Once again double presence / For them up there!

AR

Image: Hiroshi Sugimoto, North Atlantic Ocean, Cliffs of Mother I, 1989

Climax

The mountain has been conquered! 3029m on Schlegeis glacier. In weeks-long ordeal by wind and weather, spared from avalanches and rockfall, Huber and Aichner have now reached the highest point of their expedition. Finally, it went through knee-deep snow gelatinous. The sight of the boat at the top puts us into euphoria, but the decline is still ahead. The boat must be let down over 80 m, before it will be pulled down over rocks and boulders. Will we be able to keep our schedule? Will the boat reach the ground in one piece so it can continue its journey towards the horizon? Follow the expedition on our map-based diary !

21.6., 2p.m. press conference Taufers Castle (Castello di Tures)
22.6., 10a.m. farewell at Museion, Bolzano
23.6., 5p.m. ship-launching ceremony, Chiesa Lutherana, Scuola St. Angelo Custode, Venice

CS

DEFIANCE

Me: A huge wave!

The ship: Hold on tight!

Me: I feel sick.

The ship: Watch you don’t throw up on my deck.

It is part of human nature to defy the natural phenomena that are attributed to the divine sphere. Gilgamesh tried to reach eternal life via the Waters of Death. Thus began the navigation vitae, the metaphorical water-life-ship connection, which Hans Blumenberg called the nautical life metaphor. Are Ulysses’ odysseys anything more than the titillating of the gods’ palates, an adventurous violation of boundaries, a metaphor’s battle for the collective consciousness? Which mariner was the first to discover himself in the planks of the swaying deck on which he stood, the first to see the image of his own existence: of his perpetual peril, of his unremitting boldness?

AR

Image: Ian Hamilton Finlay (paper work)

On 2.400 m

They are on 2.400 m. The backs hurt, and the fingers are covered with blisters. The weather changes rapidly, only the nights are constantly cold. As every day they report to their diary, as every day they will try to upload it with some images on the servers in order to feed the exhibitions in Munich and Venice with updates. The developement can be followed even more closely online, where every single metre they dragged the boat was tracked.

The red object on the glacier, this thing which does not belong there - that was the starting idea for this project. Now, as they are reaching the Schlegeis Glacier, the image has turned towards a physical torture for the two artists. They cannot care much about the reviews in the media or the response of the visitors of the exhibitions. For us it still might have a metaphorical meaning, for them it is simply a matter of physical and mental survival. And it is still a way to go.

CS

Image: Thomas Huber/Wolfgang Aichner: passage2011, Photo: Matthias Fuchs

THE REALM OF THE DEAD CAN WAIT

Me: So where are the pillows?

Charon: You don’t get that here.

Me: Blankets?

Charon: You don’t get that here. Wouldn’t you say so, Noah? (laughs)

Noah: You don’t get that here.

In the biblical story of Noah the ark takes on the meaning of a ship of life: rescuing human and animal life from the dangers of Nature’s peril; the sea appears as the expression of sinister wrath. The lesson to be learned: devoutness on the inside and mercy from above are all that are needed to defy annihilation. The course of the ship’s journey is closely related to the course of human life, including the happy ending: the promise of salvation. Under the protection of Christ as the helmsman, the believer will reach his or her destination safe and sound: the Port of God, Elysian eternity. It is no coincidence that the ship’s mast resembles the Christian symbol of the crucifix.

In stark contrast to the Ship of Life, images from Egyptian and Greek mythology depict the Ship of Death and the journey across the River of Death. The ship serves as a means of transport for the soul on its way into the afterlife. As peaceful as all this may sound, Michelangelo’s representation of Charon on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel shows a pretty rough scene: Charon is casting the damned down to hell.

Image: Michelangelo (Buonarroti), The Last Judgement -- Boat of Charon from Sistine Chapel (section)