Michael Parekōwhai's 'The English Channel' takes the metaphorical role of the viewer literally - providing a singular master class for all storytellers
There is so much here to digest and I suspect I’ll be thinking about this all day. Sometimes it’s good to be made uncomfortable by art. And absolutely, art’s meaning changes over time. I wish the US understood this. Maybe someday I’ll get over my fear of flying and get to Australia and New Zealand. The history there….. sigh
I also live in a Cook-“discovered”region (Canada’s west coast), and challenging art is the best way to carry on the conversation about colonialism. That is an amazing sculpture.
Thanks so much for saying so, Jon. I try to pepper this Substack less obvious subjects so it's not all big, flashy titles and other artworks I'm discussing.
besides being a tool of British Imperialism, Cook also helped expand humanity's scientific knowledge (botanical surveys, astronomy, the transit of Venus etc) ... albeit in the name of British Imperialism
he also seems to have been a insightful leader – the story goes that scurvy (the lack of Vitamin C) was a huge issue for the British navy, costing them men and ships – this abated slightly when they discovered a cure, e.g. citrus fruit, but lemons only last for so long – it was then discovered that sauerkraut also prevented scurvy and, being pickled, could last almost indefinitely – the problem was, the British sailors didn't like the taste and certainly didn't like the idea of eating foreign (German) food – now the normal method of encouraging sailors to do something they'd rather not, was the use of the lash or similar repressive methods ... not a great way to build an esprit de corps – but Cook had a better idea – he made it a big deal of serving steaming platters of sauerkraut to the officers, and the officers only – you can see where this is going – soon the sailors were complaining why they were being denied sauerkraut – Cook listened to their and decided to 'allow' the enlisted men to have sauerkraut too – and so Cook's voyages showed fewer incidents of scurvy than any other command in the navy at the time
i've tried this tactic with toddlers, but unfortunately they can see through the ruse immediately, making them smarter than average 18th-century Jack Tar
One argument First Nations people might have about Cook expanding humanity’s scientific knowledge is that that knowledge is from a Western perspective about what is valuable. The oldest living civilization on Earth, the indigenous peoples of Australia, had a vast pool of knowledge that was eradicated as an indirect result of Cook and British imperialism. At the end of the day, he was but a man and a servant of a bigger genocidal machine — his capacity to murder was limited, I mean — but there’s an alternate history where the West engaged with and learned from the First Nations people here in Oz and wound up with a much deeper reservoir of wisdom, especially about land management, living in harmony with your environment, and other approaches to politics, rather than wiping out the vast majority of it. This is the problem with colonialism, I think. Exploration will always produce boons for someone, even all, but it’s invariably mixed up in wiping out knowledge we’re left ignorant of even missing out on.
I recently read The Wide Wide Sea by Hampton Sides about Cook’s third and final voyage. I live on the Big Island of Hawaii where Cook met his demise.
The statue and your analysis of it are fascinating. I will probably never get to see it in person, so your video and photos are a great way to experience it.
I'm curious how Cook's place of death is memorialized today...is it at all and, if so, how are indigenous Hawaiians part of that conversation? And I'm glad the article spoke to you in any way.
There is so much here to digest and I suspect I’ll be thinking about this all day. Sometimes it’s good to be made uncomfortable by art. And absolutely, art’s meaning changes over time. I wish the US understood this. Maybe someday I’ll get over my fear of flying and get to Australia and New Zealand. The history there….. sigh
The history is so much deeper than people outside of the two countries typically understands…
This was an excellent article, thank you, Cole.
I also live in a Cook-“discovered”region (Canada’s west coast), and challenging art is the best way to carry on the conversation about colonialism. That is an amazing sculpture.
I'm glad it spoke to you in any way. It's certainly a confronting piece, and I appreciate it so much for its ambition and for how successful it is.
Enjoyed this as it gives some incredible insights, and I like what you say about art mirroring society. A great read.
Thanks so much for saying so, Jon. I try to pepper this Substack less obvious subjects so it's not all big, flashy titles and other artworks I'm discussing.
brilliant piece of art – love it
besides being a tool of British Imperialism, Cook also helped expand humanity's scientific knowledge (botanical surveys, astronomy, the transit of Venus etc) ... albeit in the name of British Imperialism
he also seems to have been a insightful leader – the story goes that scurvy (the lack of Vitamin C) was a huge issue for the British navy, costing them men and ships – this abated slightly when they discovered a cure, e.g. citrus fruit, but lemons only last for so long – it was then discovered that sauerkraut also prevented scurvy and, being pickled, could last almost indefinitely – the problem was, the British sailors didn't like the taste and certainly didn't like the idea of eating foreign (German) food – now the normal method of encouraging sailors to do something they'd rather not, was the use of the lash or similar repressive methods ... not a great way to build an esprit de corps – but Cook had a better idea – he made it a big deal of serving steaming platters of sauerkraut to the officers, and the officers only – you can see where this is going – soon the sailors were complaining why they were being denied sauerkraut – Cook listened to their and decided to 'allow' the enlisted men to have sauerkraut too – and so Cook's voyages showed fewer incidents of scurvy than any other command in the navy at the time
i've tried this tactic with toddlers, but unfortunately they can see through the ruse immediately, making them smarter than average 18th-century Jack Tar
One argument First Nations people might have about Cook expanding humanity’s scientific knowledge is that that knowledge is from a Western perspective about what is valuable. The oldest living civilization on Earth, the indigenous peoples of Australia, had a vast pool of knowledge that was eradicated as an indirect result of Cook and British imperialism. At the end of the day, he was but a man and a servant of a bigger genocidal machine — his capacity to murder was limited, I mean — but there’s an alternate history where the West engaged with and learned from the First Nations people here in Oz and wound up with a much deeper reservoir of wisdom, especially about land management, living in harmony with your environment, and other approaches to politics, rather than wiping out the vast majority of it. This is the problem with colonialism, I think. Exploration will always produce boons for someone, even all, but it’s invariably mixed up in wiping out knowledge we’re left ignorant of even missing out on.
I recently read The Wide Wide Sea by Hampton Sides about Cook’s third and final voyage. I live on the Big Island of Hawaii where Cook met his demise.
The statue and your analysis of it are fascinating. I will probably never get to see it in person, so your video and photos are a great way to experience it.
I'm curious how Cook's place of death is memorialized today...is it at all and, if so, how are indigenous Hawaiians part of that conversation? And I'm glad the article spoke to you in any way.