John Akomfrah: Vertigo Sea
Sat 8 Oct 2016 - Sun 8 Jan 2017
Teachers and Groups resource
‘There was a need to make a broad human statement about similarities - where we’ve come from and where we’re going.’ John Akomfrah, 2016
BBC
This resource consists of a series of cards. They offer prompts, ideas, information and suggestions to help you explore the themes of John Akomfrah’s work.
The cards are a starting point. They can be followed or used as inspiration, dealt
out among a group, shared, questioned and responded to. You can create new
cards to explore the themes that you are interested in. Share your ideas with us
#VertigoSea @ArnolfiniArts and @TCMargate @turnercontemporary
The resource has been designed to explore the themes raised in John Akomfrah:
Vertigo Sea. Born in 1958 in Accra, Ghana, John Akomfrah has lived in Britain
since he was 4. He describes Vertigo Sea as a eulogy to those who have died at
sea. The piece includes archival footage alongside original material and weaves a
powerful image of beauty, loss and the lessons we fail to learn from history.
Print the following pages double sided to use the cards.
Resource
Created by Arnolfini with Teresa Cisneros, Agency for Agency. Additional card added by Turner
Contemporary
Illustrations
Anni Movsisyan, sorryyoufeeluncomfortable collective; Jasmine Thompson, Anna Dymond and
Carlo Hornilla, Young Arnolfini.
Images
Tropikos (film stills) and Vertigo Sea (film stills) © Smoking Dogs Films. Courtesy Lisson Gallery.
Book your visit
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01843233026
John Akomfrah, Vertigo Sea (film still), 2015.
© Smoking Dogs Films. Courtesy Lisson Gallery.
Card 1
Fourteen billion pounds of rubbish,
most of it plastic, is dumped into the
seas every year.
Conserve Energy Future
What do you think are the impacts of this much plastic ending up in the
sea?
Create an image to represent one of the impacts you have spoken about. Imagine this image is a message to the public for a wall, a billboard or street art.
How can you make your image visually striking? Are there different
materials you can use that might encourage people to think?
This could be anything from collecting litter that washed up
on beaches, to using watercolour
and water from the sea. What
happens if you take photographs
using film and submerge the film
in water before developing them?
Can you use your image to get others thinking about what it means for
this much rubbish to end up in the sea?
Try putting your image where others will see it or posting it on social
media with the caption ‘fourteen billion pounds of rubbish is dumped in
the sea every year.’
John Akomfrah, Vertigo Sea (film still), 2015.
© Smoking Dogs Films. Courtesy Lisson Gallery.
Card 1
What do other people have to say about this?
“There are more than 100,000 ships at sea carrying all the solids, liquids and
gases that we need to live”
Deep Sea and Foreign Going: Inside Shipping, the Invisible Industry
that Brings You 90% of Everything by Rose George
“In Bangladesh, 3.5 million workers in 4,825 garment factories produce
goods for export to the global market, principally Europe and North America.
The Bangladeshi garment industry generates 80% of the country’s total
export revenue. However, the wealth generated by this sector has led to few
improvements in the lives of garment workers, 85% of whom are women”
Card 2
waronwant.org
Think about your day, what did you eat?
Did you use a computer, a
mobile phone, or TV? What are you
wearing? Did you read a book or use
a pen or pencil?
The sea is used to transport cargo across the globe. Cargo includes just
about everything we use around us, which is not grown or produced in the
UK. Your phone was probably shipped from Taiwan whilst the minerals
used to make it might come from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Look
at the labels that say ‘made in’ on your clothes and all the items around
you. Circle these on a world map.
Trace a route that a cargo ship carrying each item may have
made to get to a port near you. Compare your map with
other people’s.
What countries come up the most?
Do you think clothes or technology have always been produced in these places? Why do you think they are produced outside the UK?
Place a sheet of acetate over your map. Trace the lines from your shipping routes onto the acetate.
Use an overhead projector to project these onto a wall. What happens if you place several people’s acetates on top of each other? What patterns can you create?
Try holding an (ethically sourced!) t-shirt in front of the projector so you can see the patterns on the t-shirt. Using different colour fabric pens trace the lines onto it. What new clothing can you produce?
John Akomfrah, Vertigo Sea (film still), 2015.
© Smoking Dogs Films. Courtesy Lisson Gallery.
Card 2
Can you shop more responsibly? Do you want to find out more about
ethical shopping? You can try waronwant.org / ethicaltrade.org
“In one drop of water are found all the secrets of all the oceans.”
Kahlil Gibran
“Doesn’t it seem to you,” asked Madame Bovary, “that the mind moves more
freely in the presence of that boundless expanse, that the sight of it elevates the
soul and gives rise to thoughts of the infinite and the ideal?”
Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary
“How inappropriate to call this planet Earth when it is clearly Ocean.”
Card 3
Arthur C. Clarke
What does the sea represent to you?
Life
Emotions
Fishing
Sea-life
Metaphors
Politics
Food
Traditions
Colonialism
Freedom
Holidays
We all experience the concept of the sea in different ways. For some
it can be about happiness, for others it can be tragic. There is not one
answer.
Take a sheet of biodegradable paper and write or draw what the sea represents to you. This is for only you to see. Fold your paper up into a shape that will be able to float. In a group, find the nearest river, canal or coast and send your vessels into the water.
John Akomfrah, Vertigo Sea (film still), 2015.
© Smoking Dogs Films. Courtesy Lisson Gallery.
Card 3
A box of Winston cigarettes
2
A yellow plastic bag, to contain
documents
3
Tape to make the plastic bag
watertight
6
Bandages
7
Dates
8
A government booklet,
documenting his family
9
Suncream
Lemons, to fight sea sickness
10 Painkillers
5
A laser pen, to attract passing
boats in the event of a
shipwreck
11 A change of clothes
12 A lifejacket
Taken from The Guardian newspaper
4
Card 4
1
Unpack some of the contents of your bag. Arrange the objects on the floor and take a photo of them.
In mid-2015 the United Nations Refugee Agency reported that the number of forcibly displaced people around the world had reached a record
high of 59.5 million. Many people are displaced within their own or
neighbouring countries, however some travel long distances in the hope
of finding safety.
On these journeys migrants have to think carefully about what they take
with them. On the front of this card is the list of items Abu Jana,
a former Syrian army officer packed in his bag.
What would you take with you
if you had to flee?
What could you carry on your body?
What might you need when you arrive in a safe place?
Gather together the items you have mentioned and create a second photograph, this time showing what you would take with you.
Share with us #VertigoSea @ArnolfiniArts
@TCMargate
@turnercontemporary
John Akomfrah, Vertigo Sea (film still), 2015.
© Smoking Dogs Films. Courtesy Lisson Gallery.
Illustration, Anna Dymond, Young Arnolfini
Card 4
In a group discussion, share with each other what you would bring
and why.
In 1740 London had about 5000 street lamps that were lit by whale oil.
BBC
By 1930, even though whaling was in decline, 80% of the great whale species
were thought to be on the verge of extinction.
Greenpeace
In 1986 a moratorium on international whaling came into existence, however
due to a loophole whaling continues to take place. Roughly 2000 whales are
currently killed every year.
Card 5
Whale and Dolphin Conservation
The dividing line
Draw an imaginary line on the floor and ask your group to stand on it. One
side is Agree and the other is Disagree. Read a statement and get each
member of the group to show if they agree or disagree by moving either
side of the line. The further away from the line they are, the stronger they
agree or disagree. In small groups get them to discuss their opinions.
They can also test out ideas that aren’t their own, trying to justify
standing somewhere they wouldn’t naturally stand.
We are too sentimental about animals.
Man is a trespasser here on earth.
Killing for food and warm clothing is necessary.
Killing for trophies can be necessary.
There is a difference between whaling and hunting a deer.
John Akomfrah, Vertigo Sea (film still), 2015.
© Smoking Dogs Films. Courtesy Lisson Gallery.
Card 5
Card 6
British history is closely linked with
marine trade, exploration and naval
power.
Can you think of any famous British explorers, traders or scientists who
were involved with this? Are there any monuments or buildings named
after these people in your city?
Go on a walking, talking, mapping afternoon to create an alternative guide to your city.
You will need: Map of your city, camera, post-it notes
In a group, look at your map and circle names of places, monuments, squares or streets linked to British maritime history.
As a group, visit the sites you have located on your map. Discuss what you know about the site and what it means to you. Write down some thoughts on post-it notes and stick these on to the building or monument. Photograph your actions.
After you have visited your monuments and taken some images, consider how you might use these to create an alternative guide to your city.
Are any of the places you visited associated with difficult or violent histories? How do you think we should deal with place names and statues that glorify aspects of history that are no longer accepted as positive?
Share with us #VertigoSea @ArnolfiniArts
@TCMargate
@turnercontemporary
John Akomfrah, Vertigo Sea (film still), 2015.
© Smoking Dogs Films. Courtesy Lisson Gallery.
Illustration, Jasmine Thompson, Young Arnolfini
Card 6
If you are in Margate, you could find Margate Lifeboat Station. Find out about its stories and what they tell about British maritime history. Margate Lifeboat Station is located at the site formerly occupied by Mrs Booth’s seafront guest house, a place where J.M.W. Turner stayed when he visited Margate painting “the loveliest skies in all Europe”.
We often think of tea as being British but it actually has roots across the world.
According to legend, tea was first discovered by the Chinese emperor Shennong
in 2737 BCE, when a dead leaf from a tea bush fell into his cup
of hot water.
Card 7
In many parts of the world today, we offer guests tea as a way to welcome them.
A lot of people have their own rituals
around drinking tea.
How do you like yours? If you don’t drink tea, do you think there is another
drink that plays the same social role?
Make and drink tea together. Whilst doing this discuss:
Where are you from?
Where are your parents from?
Are your grandparents from the same place?
What do you like about where you live now and what would you change if you could?
John Akomfrah, Vertigo Sea (film still), 2015.
© Smoking Dogs Films. Courtesy Lisson Gallery.
Card 7
I now saw myself deprived of all chance of returning to my native country, or
even the least glimpse of hope of gaining the shore, which I now considered as
friendly; and I even wished for my former slavery in preference to my present
situation, which was filled with horrors of every kind, still heightened by my
ignorance of what I was to undergo… I was soon put down under the decks, and
there I received such a salutation in my nostrils as I had never experienced in my
life: so that, with the loathsomeness of the stench, and crying together, I became
so sick and low that I was not able to eat, nor had I the least desire to taste any
thing. I now wished for the last friend, death, to relieve me.
Olaudah Equiano
Few written records have survived from enslaved people who experience the
journey across the Atlantic, but Olaudah Equiano (c. 1745 – 1797), who was
probably captured at around 11 years old in Eboe province, an area that is now
part of Nigeria, managed to buy his freedom in later life and wrote an account of
his experiences.
There are about 20.9 million people trapped in some form of slavery today.
Card 8
End Slavery Now
Between 1500 and 1900 Europeans transported millions of people across
the Atlantic from West and West Central Africa to be sold as slaves. The
boats were overcrowded and conditions cruel and unhealthy, people were
separated from everyone they knew and did not know what was going to
happen to them.
Between 1680 and 1688 almost one in four people carried on slave ships
died on the journey.
The Abolition Project
How many people are in your group? Separate the group so that a quarter
are on one side of the room. Take a minute of silence to reflect on what
the experience of slavery actually meant for those who were captured in
Africa and shipped across the ocean.
Ten-minute exhibition
You will need: A blank wall to work on, lots of images – copies of artworks, old newspapers and magazines, plain paper.
Divide into two groups and select separate areas of the room to work in.
Everyone take a blank sheet of paper. On your own, in no more than 3 minutes, write or draw the first thought you have about slavery. It could be a question, a statement or a feeling. In your group stick your sheets to the wall, spreading them out as much as you can.
Next, take the images, newspapers or magazines you have gathered. As a group choose what you want to add to the wall. What do the images say? How do they make you feel?
Finally, give your exhibition a title.
Present your exhibition to the other group, talk about the decisions you made, where the title came from and what you would do differently if you had more time.
John Akomfrah, Vertigo Sea (film still), 2015.
© Smoking Dogs Films. Courtesy Lisson Gallery.
Card 8
Is slavery consigned to history? Look into contemporary forms of slavery
and bonded labour.
“Aloft all hands, strike the top-masts and belay;
Yon angry setting sun and fierce-edged clouds Declare the Typhon’s coming.
Before it sweeps your decks, throw overboard The dead and dying - ne’er heed
their chains Hope, Hope, fallacious Hope! Where is thy market now?”
J.M.W Turner
When Turner exhibited “The Slave Ship” (1840) at the Royal Academy in 1840 he
paired it with the extract from his unfinished and unpublished poem “Fallacies
of Hope” (1812).
Card 9
Both J.M.W Turner and John Akomfrah were inspired by the true story of the slave
ship Zong whose captain, in 1781, had thrown overboard sick and dying slaves so
that he could collect insurance money available only for slaves “lost at sea.”
The ocean is in the centre of both J.M.W. Turner and John Akomfrah’s
work, and both artists present the great power of the sea through a
dramatic relationship between the sea and a man.
Look at J.M.W. Turner’s painting The Deluge opposite to John Akomfrah’s installation and listen to the sound that comes from the film.
What is happening in the painting?
Who are these people?
What kind of atmosphere does the
sound create in the painting? Does
the sound help you to relate to the
painting?
Does the painting change after
watching the film?
What emotions are the artists trying to
provoke?
J.M.W. Turner, The Slave ship (1840)
© Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Card 9
Is there anything in nature more
powerful than the ocean?