Ships That Pass, John Kippin

Ships that Pass references the River Wear and the sense of purpose it achieved in over 600 years of making ships of every kind for the world. It also celebrates the model making of Fred Gooch (a one time employee of Sunderland Shipbuilders) who is responsible for constructing the model ships depicted here. A reminder of the scale and intensity of shipbuilding activity once pre-eminent in Sunderland before its hasty demise, it celebrates its achievements whilst reflecting on the surrounding environmental and cultural legacy. It is also a work that considers where culture lies in the popular imagination and for whom.

Looking out towards the River Wear from the National Glass Centre it is difficult to imagine the scale of shipbuilding activity undertaken on this now calm and seemingly implacable river. From its position as the largest shipbuilding town in the world, Sunderland has struggled to find a sense of identity and purpose to replace its historic achievements in mining and shipbuilding.

“The £45 million aid package granted by the E.U. and negotiated by the (Conservative) government of the day, led by Margaret Thatcher has provided relatively few employment alternatives to major industries, such as building ships and it is difficult to imagine a way in which the (admittedly difficult) world trading and manufacturing environment could have been addressed with less sensitivity to the local workforce and overall regional context

The legacy of a move from an economy based on manufacturing and extraction to one based on the financial and service sector has proved itself inadequate in the task of providing an acceptable level of employment that is capable of supporting families, and has cemented a damaging north/south divide that continues to widen. The current Government is scarcely represented in the North of England and is totally excluded from north of the nearby Scottish border, they have continued to pursue economic policies mostly focused on the already overstressed South of England and have neglected developments in other parts of Britain.

The recent discussions about independence in Scotland are a serious reflection of how the British people and increasingly those who live away from the pull of London, truly feel about how inclusive and representative our government really is. We all know that we are ‘in it’ but not that we are ‘in it together’.” (John Kippin, 2013)

www.johnkippin.com

Installed at the National Glass Centre, Sunderland from 18 October 2013 – 27 November 2013.