Ghost is a custom-built kayak that arises out of a film work, Echo, which was made at Deadman's Island, off the coast of the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, and Governor's Island in New York. Echo, together with a second film The Pickers will be exhibited at the Whitstable Biennale 2010 alongside the new work, Ghost.

Ghost is currently being built to Adam Chodzko's design, by Glyn Edwards in Whitstable, one of very few wooden kayak builders in the UK (www.glynedwardskayaks.co.uk).

Between 21-23 June Ghost will be paddled from Whitstable to the Isle of Sheppey, where it will take people to Deadman's Island, a small island off Queenborough, Isle of Sheppey. Deadman’s Island is so called because it was used as a burial site for bodies of people who had died on the prison hulks moored in the Swale in the 19th Century. So Ghost is a vessel for visiting the dead.

A rower sits in the back of the two-man kayak, and a member of the public in the front. The passenger can paddle but when approaching Deadman’s Island can lie down low and flat, like a body in a coffin with their head slightly raised.

A video camera in the bow will record each journey of the kayak from just above the waterline looking in the direction of its destination. Therefore Ghost generates a record of its own journeys and this footage will be archived as each passenger makes their own unique journey.

Booking details for the Deadman's Island trips to follow.

Chodzko has exhibited extensively in international solo and group exhibitions including: Tate, St Ives; Museo d'Arte Moderna, Istanbul Biennale, Venice Biennale; Royal Academy, London; PS1, NY; Ikon Gallery, Birmingham. Recent projects include commissions by Creative Time, New York, The Contemporary Art Society, Frieze Art Fair, and Hayward Gallery. His work is in many major collections.

www.adamchodzko.com

This project is part of the Whitstable Biennale 2010 for more information go to;
www.whitstablebiennale.com/