The Great Blue Ship (2020)
In 2014, Chris King sailed to the North Pole aboard the vintage tall ship, Antigua as part of the Arctic Circle Residency Program. During the month long exhibition, he lived and worked with a group of artists with a common interest, to learn more about the devastating effects of global warming in the Arctic. To pass time at sea, King created a replica of the ship, using wood matches he purchased on the island of Spitsbergen. Once the model was finished, he approached the Captain of the Antigua about burning it for his video. The Captain was insulted by the idea and proclaimed that burning a replica of the ship would "curse the voyage and put the vessel at risk". Respecting the Captain's orders, King halted work on the video and focused on other projects. The following year, the Antigua underwent a renovation expanding the hull of the ship. This ultimately changing the design from King's matchstick model, easing concern for the ship's wellbeing. Last year King revisited the wooden model he carried from the Arctic back to his studio in Louisiana where the video was completed in 2020. *Video is shown vertically when exhibited.
In 2014, Chris King sailed to the North Pole aboard the vintage tall ship, Antigua as part of the Arctic Circle Residency Program. During the month long exhibition, he lived and worked with a group of artists with a common interest, to learn more about the devastating effects of global warming in the Arctic. To pass time at sea, King created a replica of the ship, using wood matches he purchased on the island of Spitsbergen. Once the model was finished, he approached the Captain of the Antigua about burning it for his video. The Captain was insulted by the idea and proclaimed that burning a replica of the ship would "curse the voyage and put the vessel at risk". Respecting the Captain's orders, King halted work on the video and focused on other projects. The following year, the Antigua underwent a renovation expanding the hull of the ship. This ultimately changing the design from King's matchstick model, easing concern for the ship's wellbeing. Last year King revisited the wooden model he carried from the Arctic back to his studio in Louisiana where the video was completed in 2020. *Video is shown vertically when exhibited.
The Great Blue Ship, 2020, digital video by Chris King
FTW (2017)
Chris King completed the performance video FTW with help from composer Aime Caron, who produced the moody soundtrack for the piece during the summer of 2017. The acronym FTW has varied meanings including: For The Win (chat slang), Forever Two Wheels (biker motto), and Fuck the World (antisocial slogan). The FTW video shows a solitary figure, symbolic, alone in the forest, searching for deeper meaning, desperate to find freedom from the lonely and troubled world outside his wooded hollow.
FTW, 2017, digital video by Chris King with sound by Aime Caron
Enter A Starship (2015)
After his 2014 artist residency in the Arctic, Louisiana artist, Chris King collaborated with Los Angeles composer, Aime Caron, sending him sound files that King recorded while sailing in the Arctic Circle. Inspired by these sounds, Aime created original music which he layered with King's digital sound recordings. King then combined Aime's composition with digital video footage he shot during the month long expedition. To complete the project, King added a sort of poetic element consisting of text taken from the journal he kept while sailing in the Arctic. *Video Projection
Enter a Starship, 2015, Digital Video by Chris King with Sound by Aime Caron
Amerricane Dream (2013)
Chris King's performance video, Amerricane Dream was created in 2012 in his pickup truck, at his studio as Hurricane Isaac brought harsh tropical wind and rain into Louisiana. King claims, "The extreme conditions and inability to do anything about it, paralleled the lack of clarity and loss of control I was feeling at that point in my life, still adjusting to the culture shock of relocating to the deep south."
Amerricane Dream, 2013, Digital Video By Chris King with Sound by Aime Caron
Medi_ation (2011)
In 2010, Chris King began exploring the use of digital media in his work. Medi_ation was produced from footage he shot in 2011 while hiking along a riverbank during a residency at the Vermont Studio Center. He then edited and manipulated the video, sending the digital files to his longtime friend and composer, Aime Caron in Los Angeles, who assigned digital sounds to the individual colors in King's video. The end result is a digital projection with abstract, atmospheric qualities, in which imagery moves and transitions happen, so does the flow of sound. *Video Projection
Medi_ation (2011)
In 2010, Chris King began exploring the use of digital media in his work. Medi_ation was produced from footage he shot in 2011 while hiking along a riverbank during a residency at the Vermont Studio Center. He then edited and manipulated the video, sending the digital files to his longtime friend and composer, Aime Caron in Los Angeles, who assigned digital sounds to the individual colors in King's video. The end result is a digital projection with abstract, atmospheric qualities, in which imagery moves and transitions happen, so does the flow of sound. *Video Projection