Containerart Explained

ContainerArt was a travelling public art event and exhibition project, which used shipping containers to display works of contemporary art from 2005-2012.[1] The containers displayed different works of art in each location and at each event.[2] As a form of installation and place-based art, ContainerArt was part of an emerging practice of re-purposing shipping containers in urban environments and shipping container art.[3]

ContainerArt began in Italy and was produced by the Associazione Cuturale ContainerArt.

The Associazione Cuturale ContainerArt was an Italian non-profit association headed by Ronald Lewis Facchinetti. Facchinetti's curatorial philosophy was described in his book "Beauty Inside", and was primarily concerned with helping the viewer achieve the "aesthetic experience" while isolated inside a container and in front of the work of art.[4] Later, ContainerArt also operated as an international franchise with partners in various countries, including Brazil, China, Canada and Israel. The international partners developed and curated their local shipping container art exhibits with support from ContainerArt, but with independent themes and goals. Events in both Sao Paulo and New York City focused on video art installations inside the containers.

ContainerArt events usually lasted for 10 days during which the container was open to the public. Containers were placed in streets and public parks. Maps were distributed so that visitors could explore neighbourhoods and places through art. ContainerArt also placed "bStrogs" or street blogs outside the open containers. Computers connected to the internet were sometimes used to comment upon the work. ContainerArt also made use of Bluetooth technologies to communicate information on the works and events to the phones of passers-by.

Exhibitions

Italy!Year!City!Containers!Theme!Partner(s)!
200521[5] [6]
200521
200724
200714[7]
20086
20082
20084
200823"Ecosystems"the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts[8]
2008Milan, Tirana, Turin, Venice13"Beauty Inside Will Save the World"
International franchise partner exhibits!Year!City!Containers!Theme!Partners!
2006New York City8Video artDiVA Video Art fair[9]
20073
2008São Paulo12Video artLucas Bambozzi and Cao Guimarães[10]
2009Vancouver15Repurposed materialsPacific National Exhibition[11]
2011EdmontonCapital Ex Fair[12]
2011Vancouver15Pacific National Exhibition[13]
2012VancouverPacific National Exhibition

Selection process

ContainerArt projects not curated by content partners were directly chosen by Ronald Lewis Facchinetti in association with local co-curators or franchisees. Any artist could apply by sending a project and filling out an application available on the ContainerArt website.

Artists could exhibit free of charge. Artists whose project was approved were assigned a container in which to exhibit their work.The event allowed them to display their project in an unusual context with wide access to the general population of a city.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Containers - Criticism . 2025-04-07 . e-flux . en.
  2. Web site: Container Art . https://web.archive.org/web/20190315150627/http://www.containerart.org:80/ . 2019-03-15 . 2025-04-07 . www.containerart.org.
  3. Web site: The Rise Of Shipping Container Art: Transforming Urban Spaces . NEAR Podcast.
  4. Book: Lewis Facchinetti, Ronald . Beauty inside: teoria e pratiche di containerart . 2008 . Proedi . 978-88-89721-37-7 . 2. . Milano . it . Beauty Inside: Theory and Practice of Container Art.
  5. Web site: 2016-03-04 . ContainerArt 2005 . 2025-04-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304061755/http://www.dexigner.com/news/5608 . 2016-03-04.
  6. Web site: containerart . 2025-04-07 . containerart . en.
  7. Web site: 2011-07-22 . arte: roma, oltre 40.000 persone a 'containerart' Interfree Notizie U… . 2025-04-07 . archive.ph.
  8. Web site: GENOVA . CONTAINER DI ARTE, NATURA E SPIRITUALITA' DA TUTTO IL MONDO Genova cose da fare . 2025-04-07 . www.genovapress.com.
  9. Web site: The New York Art World - April 2006 Reviews . 2025-04-07 . intheartworld.com.
  10. Belchior . Camila . Feb–May 2009 . ContainerArt Parque Villa Lobos . ArtNexus . 72 . 118.
  11. Web site: 2010-02-08 . The ContainerArt Project: 'In the Box' Means 'Out of the Box' – LIFE AS A HUMAN . 2025-04-07 . lifeasahuman.com . en-US.
  12. Web site: Yeo . Sharon . 2011-07-30 . Fun on the Midway: 2011 Capital Ex . 2025-04-07 . Only Here for the Food . en.
  13. Web site: Vancouver . Port Metro . Local Artists Bring Shipping Containers to Life at this year's PNE . 2025-04-07 . www.newswire.ca . en.

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