Abstract

This installation by Hew Locke caught my eye right away. The reason it caught my eye right away was because of the floating boats which is out of the ordinary. After looking into this piece, and noticing the different styles of boats, I was very intrigued. Hew Locke named this piece “Here’s the thing” and it is not his only piece on boats. He has a couple other pieces that are similar in the sense that there are hanging boats made out of different materials. He also has made other sculptures not having to do with boats but he has strong feelings towards boats. Hew Locke said, “Guyana means ‘land of many waters’—you are constantly aware of boats. I went to Guyana as a five-year-old kid on a boat. I came back here [the UK] on a boat. So many things, good and bad, travel by sea. People want simple answers about what this work is about, but it doesn’t exist. Migration, trade, refugees, warfare, exploration, tourism … [are] extremely messy and interlinked. To whoever is asking, I say, come back tomorrow and I’ll have something different to say about it.” I think its very interesting as well that he doesn’t really know the meaning behind it and that it can mean something different to him looking at it a different day. Vehicles have always been entertaining to me, especially as a child playing with toys. If I went and visited this instillation I would totally be fascinated by all of little boats and could wish I could play with them.

Leave a Comment