Videos : Freeport

In an interview recorded at PEM in 2010, Michael Lin discusses his practice of appropriating floral patterns to create large-scale, public artworks that challenge the conventions of exhibition.

Filmmaker Peter Hutton and model maker Michael Wall discuss the inspiration for Shipbreaking, a one-of-a-kind ship model created for FreePort [no.004]. The model reflects the ship salvaging activities seen in Peter Hutton's 2007 film  At Sea. This model and Peter Hutton's film are on view in PEM's Putnam Gallery through June 30, 2012.

Peter Hutton's first contribution to FreePort no.004 is Two Rivers. Seen for the first time in public in a dual-screen presentation, Two Rivers takes us on two simultaneous voyages- the Hudson River in New York and the Yangtze River in China.

Susan Philipsz is the 2010 recipient of the prestigious Turner Prize - an annual award bestowed on the best contemporary British artist under age 50. In this artist interview filmed at PEM in 2011, Philipsz talks about If I With You Would Go, her original, site-specific sound installation in PEM's East India Marine Hall. 

This artwork is featured as part of PEM's FreePort project, an ongoing initiative that brings living artists into a unique dialogue with PEM and its audiences. Check our exhibition page for FreePort works on display today.

Images of Francis Child and his collection of ballads have been provided by the Houghton Library at Harvard University.

A massive video wall glows with colorful creatures dancing in a white void. "Drive-By", a video by artist Nick Cave, is featured as part of PEM's FreePort [No. 006]. In a sit down interview at PEM, Cave discusses the transformation that occurs when performing in these costume creations, known as "Soundsuits."

FreePort [No. 006]: Nick Cave is on view at PEM through May 27, 2013. Check out Nick Cave's Soundsuits in action during a live performance on April 18, 2013 at PEM/PM, PEM's evening party series. For more info, visit http://www.pem.org/pempm

Generous support provided by Fay Chandler. Additional support provided by donors to the 2013 FreePort Fund including Terry and Dick Albright and Jeffrey P. Beale and by the East India Marine Associates of the Peabody Essex Museum.

What compels Nick Cave to make art? How does he build his magnificent creations? In this video, PEM visits Cave's Chicago studio to talk with the artist and to watch Soundsuits being built for the museum's FreePort [No. 006]. These Soundsuits will be on view at PEM through May 27, 2013.

Music created by Forrest James
Find him on Bandcamp
Find him on Soundcloud

Generous support provided by Fay Chandler. Additional support provided by donors to the 2013 FreePort Fund including Terry and Dick Albright and Jeffrey P. Beale and by the East India Marine Associates of the Peabody Essex Museum.

PEM's FreePort [No. 005] team paints Michael Lin's vivid armorial silhouettes on the Mellon Staircase and Galleries. This time-lapse video captures the complex five-week process in more than 1,500 photographs!

In Michael Lin's FreePort project, PEM's renowned collection of Asian export art is in conversation with Lin's vision of a not-too-distant reality, where the ancient art of export porcelain is seen anew as the crafting of "mass-produced, everyday objects."

Swiss artist Marianne Mueller looks back at her contribution to PEM's FreePort project Any House Is a Home. In her exhibition, objects and images from PEM's collection merge and mingle with images of Salem and with Mueller’s own work to create a contemporary conversation that is colorful and complex. The installation is on view in PEM's Photography Gallery through early 2012. Don't miss it!

Charles Sandison reflects on his installation for PEM's FreePort no.001

Sandison brings the East India Marine Hall into dazzling new light with 'Figurehead,' a writhing sea of handwritten words and drawings that twist and flow across the museum's historic East India Marine Hall. The projected words and images were gathered by Sandison while exploring ship logs and sailor's journals at PEM's own Phillips Library.

This installation is on view through April 24th, 2011. Don't miss it! For more information about FreePort, click on the Exhibitions tab at pem.org.