Artist: Scott Hocking
Celestial Ship of the North (Emergency Ark), aka The Barnboat (2015)
Based on ideas of archaic vessels, alchemical symbolism, destruction myths, duality and deluge stories - and shaped by the site's history and the Thumb’s incredibly consistent winds - the Barnboat was built over the course of 3 months, and made entirely from the beams and boards of the collapsing 1890s barn that stood here in its place. Constructed on Goretski Family farmland, the Celestial Ship will continue to change and decay over time, just as the barn it was made from did.
Bio: Artist Scott Hocking creates site-specific installations, sculptures and photography projects, often using found materials and neglected locations. Inspired by subjects ranging from ancient mythologies to current events, his artworks focus on transformation, ephemerality, chance, and the cycles of nature. His artwork has been exhibited internationally, including the Detroit Institute of Arts, Cranbrook Art Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the School of the Art Institute Chicago, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, The Mattress Factory Art Museum (Pittsburgh), the Van Abbemuseum (Eindhoven), Kunst-Werke Institute (Berlin), Kunsthalle Wien (Vienna), and the French Triennial Renaissance (Lille). He has received multiple awards, including a Kresge Artist Fellowship and an Efroymson Contemporary Arts Fellowship, as well as residential grants in France, Iceland, Australia, Canada, Brazil, and throughout the United States.
Location
3598 Fehner Rd, Port Austin, MI 48467
Barn donated by Bill and Lorraine Goretski.
This installation is on private property. Please stay away from, and off of, the structures. Property owners are not responsible for personal injury.
Media & Links
Detroit Free Press Article: "Detroit artist Hocking turns Port Austin barn into boat"
Detroit News Article: "Artist Transforms Barn Into Ark"
Hyperallergic Article: "Decaying Barns Transformed Into Art"
Metromode Article: "A new American Gothic"
Sara Rose Sharp Article: "Hocking's Ark"
Nonprofit Quarterly Article: "Art Barns: When Geography Plays a Role in Arts Identity"
Huron Daily Tribune: "Artist Plans Unique Sculptures for the Thumb"
Huron Daily Tribune: "Community christens county art project"
Model D: “Detroit artist Scott Hocking kayaks through the quarantimes”