Red Sea. Venice, Italy. September 2015.
This was an installation created by Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota titled "The Key in Hand" for the Venice Art Biennale in 2015. Housed inside the Japanese Pavilion in the Giardini, it was beautiful, immersive, glowing. When you entered the exhibit, you were surrounded by a web of red yarn with individual keys hanging on each string. You felt as though you were "swimming" in a red sea and every surface inside reflected an electric crimson glow. This boat was a central focal point, however just one piece in the multi-roomed pavilion all interconnected by the yarn and key adorned cielings. I would do a poor job in summarizing Shiota's description of what the boat, red string, keys, and other items signify in the exhibit so I leave her description here for you to explore.