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EXPLORATIONS IN OCEAN SPACE



BOAT OF SILENCE

  The project can be divided into three parts. The first part includes the history of the boat in the Sea-Sámi culture. The second part is about how to use resources and craftsmenship to build a boat by myself. The third part shows how the boathouse protects boats and expresses emotion more than a physical house.

Although the history and physical technique of boat-building seems silent, behind the silence, we spend our time and energy on it. We build them with our hands and take care of them for many years. So, the boat not only includes its own knowledge and history but also involves our private memory and emotion.

The boat is central to the Sea-Sámi culture

This drawing is a rock painting from Solsemhula found by Kalle Sognnes in 1983, which shows the historical life of the Sea-Sámi culture, including hunting animals and sailing. The boat drawn in the centre speaks of the importance of the boat in the life of the Sea-Sámi people.

Map of the Sea-Sámi museum 

This real map shows the buildings and tools of the Sámi people for living and production. Some houses and installations are used by the Sámi people to interact with their boats. For instance, the xx the Sami people use it to turn over their boats to dry out.


Furn/Gran: the species for building boats

Furn and Gran are two kinds of pine that are used to build boats in Norway. They are ideal resources to produce wooden pieces with the little knot because they have trunks with fewer branches compared to other species.

Use my body measurements to build my boat 

These diagrams describe how I used my body measurements to build my boat in a traditional way. The length of my arm defines the distance between the position of my seat and that of the oar. The length of my legs defines the distance between two seats and the distance between two nails is determined by the distance between my thumb and index finger.

Different types of boat storage

Although people build these houses for the same reasons –storing and protecting boats – they are designed and constructed in different ways according to local conditions and resources. For example, it is common for people to use stones to design and construct their boathouses if they live in a place rich in stones.
Storage: more than a physical house

Storage protects boats and tells me a story about time. The boats stood in the storage without any movement, hidden in darkness.  During this time, everything about the boat becomes unrealistic, like a dream. The scenario of the Sámi people sailing from the past to now appears in my mind. The days about making a boatell me every detail about my boat, the collapse of the connection between different wooden pieces, the bending of bow and stern, and the weight of the whole boat that I can lift alone. Meanwhile, everything becomes so real.

A project by Wei Chen