S.O.S.

Somebody save this man! His boat is sinking! Wait. Doesn't he look a little too peaceful considering he is stuck on a sinking boat?

While perusing recent posts on the Gizmodo site, I was struck by this image and had to read the attached story. It turned out to be another fine specimen of someone dabbling in the art of deception. How could a man stuck on a sinking ship be an example of deception? Could he have placed himself there after the ship had already started sinking for a simple photo opportunity? Could the ship be permanently fixed in that position by being either stuck in sand in shallow water or mounted to some underwater structure for display? That would seem logical due to the angle of the paint line above the water, but that is not the case. This boat (or artwork) is called "Love, Love", and it has been cut in half and modified with a new keel and motor. As such, it remains a perfectly "functional and safe leisurely object". Julien Berthier created this boat as somewhat of an artistic experiment, and it may not seem very suitable for aquatic leisure, but he has navigated the waterways to many ports around the European continent. I don't have much to say about it other than that I find it extremely interesting. I cannot make a solid decision as to whether I believe form followed function in this case or if it was the inverse. I don't think it really makes much difference in how captivating I find it. I don't believe it would be the most practical or comfortable means of aquatic transportation. I assume the interest the public shows with his art at every opportunity would quickly make up for the discomfort. I, for one, couldn't resist engaging this artist in a discussion of his art and further explore his other works upon coming across this. It's his variation on word-of-mouth, and it's one instance where I am not upset to have been deceived. In the interest of proliferating works of art and ingenuity, let me insert a few more images from his website (link below) which detail it's mobility through showing it in different settings.

Here it is navigating some open water.

Here it is in an open air display to offer viewing angles and proximity not possible in open water.

Lastly, here it is docked in a harbor.

Though that last picture seems to be a pretty generalized rendition of a port or harbor, something about the color of the water, the viewing angle and the construction of the docks seemed far too familiar. So, I watched the video (link below) to confirm my suspicions, and I was correct. It turns out that both the video and this image (as well as possibly others) were shot in the waters of Granville, France (a small fishing town on the coast of Normandy that I keep close to my heart). Our family has spent many summers and vacations walking those streets and swimming in those waters. To top it off, while watching the video not only does the boat idle about the waters of the small bay where I first learned to sail, but there are evidently sailing courses in the background where I can imagine young children undertaking the instruction of a sailing school that brought me so many amazing summer experiences. Now, I wouldn't usually consider posting something that has already been covered as suitable material for a post, but after adding that to the familiarity of the artist's prenom (French word for first name), I just had to share it (and, of course, I give my own take on it as opposed to regurgitation, but it just hit too close to home for me to ignore it). Much like the boat in the pictures, I felt that this story was screaming "S.O.S."

Links:

Julien Berthier: Website

Video: Video

Updates:

Last night (10/31/10), I completed this small rendition of Winnie the Pooh for my big brother (per request). His name is Bubbie the Pooh (not very original, but the base figure is called a "Bub"), and I mailed him out this afternoon. I hope my brother will enjoy having him at least half as much as I enjoyed the insanely simple process of creating him (I know that I merely painted him, but it definitely changed him from a blank state, and, as such, I feel that "creating" is the most fitting term). I got a lot of enjoyment from experimenting with the new paints, and I am pretty pleased with the results (both the quality of paint and the depiction of such an adorable cartoon character from our childhood). I think that's enough talk about such a simple piece, and, as before, I will try to provide somewhat of a wrap-around pictorial representation.