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E. greengrassi,London, 2004

Artist:  Jennifer Steinkamp
Title:
The Wreck of the Dumaru
Date:
2004
Dimensions:
projection 48 x 15 and 22 x 15 feet, size variable
Equipment:
4 Epson 7800, 3500 lumen projectors, 5 PC computers.
Photo credit:
  Jennifer Steinkamp, Sue Tallon, Ben Cohen, courtesy greengrassi
Exhibition History:

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A. greengrassi,London, 2004

  1. greengrassi, London, March 21 - April 17, 2004, exhibited as an installation.
  2. Telfair Museum of Art, Savannah, Georgia, curated by Diane Felcyn, September 10 - 30, 2004, exhibited single channel on a plasma screen.
    Supported by the City of Savannah Department of Cultural Affairs/Leisure Services Bureau, the Georgia Council for the Arts through the appropriations from the Georgia general Assembly.
  3. Jennifer Steinkamp, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, California, curated by JoAnne Northrup, July 1 - October 1, 2006.
  4. Lehmann Maupin, New York, October 21 - November 25, 2006, exhibited F.
  5. Taipei Biennial, Dirty Yoga, Taiwan, November 4, 2006 - February 25, 2007, curated by Dan Cameron, exhibited C.
  6. Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri, curated by JoAnne Northrup and Elizabeth Dunbar, February 16 - May 13, 2007.
  7. Summer, Neuhoff Edelman Gallery, New York, June 21 - September 10, 2007.
  8. Jennifer Steinkamp, Albright-Knox Gallery, Buffalo, New York, curated by JoAnne Northrup and Holly Hughes, March 14 - June 29, 2008, exhibited A.
  9. Hong Kong International Art Fair, Lehmann Maupin, New York, May 27 - 30, 2010, exhibited A.

Description: At one point in my career my mother asked me about the title of one my pieces: They Eat their Wounded. She was wondering where the title came from. I explained it was a line from the sci-fi movie Lost in Space, it described how the aliens took care of their dead. My mother went on to ask if my title was about my uncle who was cannibalized. I was surprised by the question, my family really does not discuss things. She said, "he was a sailor, there is a book". I ordered an ancient copy of the book. My great uncle Ernest Hedinger was a seaman on the Dumaru during WWI, 1918. The ship carrying weapons and fuel was struck by lightning scarcely a couple hours outside of Guam. Powerful currents carried the helpless lifeboat out to sea. There were not enough provisions in the over crowded boat. Only 19 years old, Uncle Ernest died after 13 days. Out of desperation he had been drinking seawater, which caused him to imagine a nail stuck in his head. Soon after his death, two of the shipmates were cannibalized. The crew was trapped out at sea for 24 days total.

The installation consisted of 4 projections in sync to create a giant animated seascape panorama across 2 walls of the gallery. The imagery consisted of two ocean animations combined, one looking from a view high above the ocean, and the other from down in the water. My uncles two points of view.

Movies

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F. Lehmann Maupin, New York, 2006, photo by Ben Cohen.

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C. Taipei Biennial, Taiwan, 2006

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A. Albright-Knox Gallery, Buffalo, New York, 2008