The world’s first modern oil tanker was named “SS Murex,” after a spiky seashell found on the ocean floor. Built by the founder of what is today Shell, the ship's name originates with the family’s previous commercial enterprise before oil exploration: buying and selling seashells for decorative purposes—a fashionable trend that thrived during the Victorian age. Traditionally, a ship's naming and christening ceremony were two intertwined events, meant to bring good fortune to the vessel, its crew, and its passengers. And in this case, the naming ceremony bore enormous fruit: hundreds of oil tankers were later named after different seashells in the decades that followed. This trend continues into the present, despite the reality that fossil fuels have mutated into being the biggest polluters of marine life that the world has ever known.
SS Murex presents a physical window into this era of oil exploration by way of several illuminated ships’ portholes hanging on the wall in a darkened space, allowing viewers to peer into scenes of transoceanic movement on the high seas, as if they had embarked on the naval journey themselves. Archival images of oil tankers from different points in time, all named after murex shells, are shown. The images highlight the toxic reddish paint on these ships’ hulls, another silent destroyer of creatures living in the depths of the sea.
Commissioned by Kunsthaus Bregenz, 2023
The world’s first modern oil tanker was named “SS Murex,” after a spiky seashell found on the ocean floor. Built by the founder of what is today Shell, the ship's name originates with the family’s previous commercial enterprise before oil exploration: buying and selling seashells for decorative purposes—a fashionable trend that thrived during the Victorian age. Traditionally, a ship's naming and christening ceremony were two intertwined events, meant to bring good fortune to the vessel, its crew, and its passengers. And in this case, the naming ceremony bore enormous fruit: hundreds of oil tankers were later named after different seashells in the decades that followed. This trend continues into the present, despite the reality that fossil fuels have mutated into being the biggest polluters of marine life that the world has ever known.
SS Murex presents a physical window into this era of oil exploration by way of several illuminated ships’ portholes hanging on the wall in a darkened space, allowing viewers to peer into scenes of transoceanic movement on the high seas, as if they had embarked on the naval journey themselves. Archival images of oil tankers from different points in time, all named after murex shells, are shown. The images highlight the toxic reddish paint on these ships’ hulls, another silent destroyer of creatures living in the depths of the sea.
Commissioned by Kunsthaus Bregenz, 2023