The Grey Space invited Yoshinari Nishiki (aka Inari Wishiki) for its first residency program (August – September 2018) in the framework of his project ‘Single Container Transport’. The Japanese artist is based in Rotterdam. His work explores the entanglement of economics and ecology.

‘Single Container Transport’ is a future logistics concept by Nishiki that dissects a highly representative underlying infrastructure of modern civilisation, container shipping, which effectively moves 90% of all the manufactured goods across the globe. ‘Single Container Transport’ is the idea of moving standard shipping containers one by one, instead of stacking them high up to more than 20.000 TEU (20ft containers) per vessel. These autonomous deep sea vessels are independent of traditional fuels, and only harnessing the wind and ocean currents, however fully utilising ever more accurate geolocation technology and cheap sensors. The concept raises questions on the future of shipping, autonomous vessels, sustainability, but as well as economic supply and demand models, having the potential to drastically alter the cultural landscapes shaped by the previous generation of shipping.

The Grey Space collaborated with TodaysArt to organise a panel discussion on the 21st of September, 2018. Nishiki invited professor Lóránt Tavasszy, who explores the mode of storage in relation to the physical distances from the living environment, and PhD researcher Ali Haseltalab, who develops prototypes of an autonomous inland waterways vessel that carries one container ‘Delfia 1’ from TU Delft. Borre Rosema, coordinator of the Central Innovation District The Hague, also joined the panel discussion. The event was moderated by Inte Gloerich (Institute of Network Cultures, University of Amsterdam).

⇨ Supported by: Creative Industries Fund NL, Central Innovation District The Hague

The Grey Space collaborated with TodaysArt to organise a public space intervention by The Grey Space resident Yoshinari Nishiki on the 22nd of September, 2018.

Its been roughly five years since so-called “new delivery” services emerged on the street, starting with the foundation of the British firm Deliveroo. Although their services are now deeply embedded in our culture, still nobody has approached them as a serious logistical system. Would it be possible to transport something rougher and heavier with these services, such as raw materials? And can we reimagine them to be a modular zero-emission transportation vehicle?

In the experiment and intervention ‘Overture: Carrying Power’, Nishki invited many Deliveroo drivers to take part in the project. As part of the intervention, the drivers succeeded to move a small mountain of 500kg of potatoes together. The distribution and assembly process was accompanied by a sound piece by electronic composer Kepla.

Japanese artist Yoshinari Nishiki (aka Inari Wishiki) is based in Rotterdam. His work explores the entanglement of economics and ecology.

⇨ Supported by: Creative Industries Fund NL, Central Innovation District The Hague