'Collective Spirit' - The Boat Project by Lone Twin
Fresh from her maiden voyage one of the world’s most extraordinary boats is coming to King’s. Collective Spirit, created by Lone Twin, is a living archive of thousands of lives – a 30ft seafaring vessel made from publically donated wooden items. In February 2011 Gregg Whelan (King’s Creative Fellow) and Gary Winters of Lone Twin issued a simple request: ‘we want your wood, we'll take anything, in any shape or form, with one proviso: a story, the donation must have a story behind it, how has it featured in your life?’ Many hundreds responded, offering an incredible array of objects, from the everyday to the extraordinary. An act of trust on the donor’s behalf - handing over something precious and singular to two artists who claimed to be building a boat from the stuff of people’s lives.
Launched on May 7th 2012 Collective Spirit, as named by public vote, has since completed her maiden voyage as a part of the London 2012 Festival and Cultural Olympiad. Across the summer the nation, and world’s media, celebrated the boatbuilder’s incredible achievement and we’re thrilled Collective Spirit will be making her London debut at King’s when she ‘moors’ on the Quadrangle at the heart of the Strand Campus throughout the Arts & Humanities Festival, where everyone will be able to admire her.
The viewing experience will be enhanced by a lighting display by students of Central School of Speech and Drama, a partnership facilitated by the Inside Out Festival.
Take a look at images of the boat being built and its journey.
Boat-side gatherings - Guided tours
As part of the exhibition, there will be a series of boat-side gatherings: short presentations about the project and a guided tour of Collective Spirit for small groups of up to 12 people. Led by Gregg Whelan and Gary Winters of Lone Twin, each tour lasts about 20minutes.
For further details and booking information click here.
Other Boat Project related events at the Festival:
Talk by Gregg Whelan and Gary Winters of Lone Twin
The Ship's Log a concert by Thirty Pounds of Bone
The Boat Project by Lone Twin is the winning commission for Artists Taking the Lead in the South East, part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad and funded by Arts Council England.
Lone Twin are one of Europe’s leading performance companies. Celebrated for creating a broad range of projects, from theatrical productions to participatory public events, the company’s work is regularly shown across the world to popular and critical acclaim.
Gregg Whelan of Lone Twin is an AHRC supported King’s Fellow in the Creative and Performing Arts.
For further information about the project visit http://www.theboatproject.com/
Booking for guided tours (gatherings), talk and concert are now open.