Chris Christion
I See No Ships:
An Ongoing investigation of the theory of perceptual blindness
What is I See No Ships the Project?
Drawing from techniques of collage, found poetry, painting, drawing, and film I See No Ships explores the relationships of cultural perception, cultural commodification, and trade.
Within this work I incorporate multiple forms of media to themes of history, identity, religion, and inherited social perceptions. The choice to use a range of media is a reflection the overwhelming amount of cultural misinformation and misappropriation our technologically advanced world now offers. I'm exploring the inequity of authorship and the techniques used to form our understanding of what “ethnic” culture is in relation to the norm. This process is not simply about highlighting racial disharmony but rather addressing the cultural imbalance that stems from a denial of self-authorship and authority.
The Myth of the Invisible Ships
The title I See No Ships is derived from a story that has long circulated that as Christopher Columbus approached the coast of the “New World,” Native Americans staring out at the water—straight at his ships could not see them. The theory is that when Columbus’s ships were approaching the Caribbean islands the Native people could not see them because they had no knowledge that such technology existed, and the idea of such a thing was too much for their primitive brains to process so they were blind to the ships. I See No Ships explores how individual and/or institutional predispositions to patriarchy affect notions of religion, race, class, gender, sexuality, and nation.
Image Credit: from article Rethink Beyond Your Own Reality by Chris Gagnon Posted January 22, 2015
Images from I See No Ships Series
Looking at some of the media: I See No Ships Project
Digital Erasures:
Incorporating techniques from painting, and drawing I use digital erasure to explore aesthetic relations of slavery and post-slavery images, revisiting well-worn illustrations of plantations landscapes and maritime motifs I reflect on three themes of America in the 19th century: discovery, exploration, and settlement. I am interested in revised historical perspectives within which racial and cultural disparity and disharmony are acknowledged and essential to the understanding of self.
I See No Ships Video Series:
Drawing from techniques of collage and found poetry I See No Ships Video Series explores the relationship of cultural perception, cultural commodification, and trade. Taking words, phrases, and even whole passages from popular and material culture and reframing them. Imparting new meaning through the cutting, splicing, and reinterpreting of elements.
Within this work, I address inequity and the techniques used to form our understanding of what “ethnic” culture is in relation to the norm. This process is not simply about highlighting racial disharmony but rather addressing the cultural imbalance that stems from a denial of self-authorship and authority.
Sculptural Works:
Within this work, I use the ship motif to explore the notion of a diminishment or erasure of humanity.
I am interested in the internal tensions and discourses that come with navigating the conceptual, representational, and symbolic landmines of mediated interactions and representation. My work does not seek to find a final thought or point of conclusion but rather locates and highlights the varieties and complexities of interior and exterior dialogues that are constantly happening within our objective and subjective reality.
Painting & Drawing:
I explore aesthetic relations of slavery and post-slavery images, revisiting well-worn illustrations of plantations landscapes and maritime motifs I reflect on three themes of America in the 19th century: discovery, exploration, and settlement. I am interested in revised historical perspectives within which racial and cultural disparity and disharmony are acknowledged and essential to the historical understanding of self. Developing my own narratives for what the subjective minds of colonial plunder might have witnessed I attempt to add a counter perspective to the celebrated depictions of a romantic American landscape as a pastoral setting, where human beings and nature coexist peacefully
trans-Atlantic identities, 1713--1783 Installation Images:
Digital Erasure Installation & Reference Images:
From Can't See in the Morning to Can't See at Night 2015 Digital print with black sand and gouache 40" x 60"
Picking cotton in Oklahoma, USA, in the 1890s
The international cotton trade provides the best example of the damaging effects of commodity subsidies. Because American cotton producers get more federal subsidies with each additional bushel they produce, current farm programs encourage overproduction with the surplus dumped on the international market, lowering prices and undercutting the livelihoods of millions of poor farmers around the world.
From Can't See in the Morning to Can't See at Night 2015 Digital print with black sand and gouache 40" x 60"