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Fresh from supplying 890 pieces of art to Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ latest newbuild, Europa 2 and with more than 25 years in the cruise, hospitality and corporate sectors, there is little that art consultancy, International Corporate Art (ICArt), does not know about refining interiors with a near-limitless choice of pieces for passenger-pausing effect.
Selecting artworks for more than 150 ships and 500 land-based hotels, founding partners Gro Nesjar in Oslo and Joan Blackman in Miami – along with third partner, Oslo-based CEO, Kai Sveum and around 20 art consultants, logistics, installation and production colleagues from London, Finland, Miami and Oslo – use a myriad of media including sculpture, glass, mosaics, ceramics, metal, video and lighting to create art installations on passenger fleets, from cruise vessels and expedition ships to ferries and fast boats.
The company’s first marine project – Royal Caribbean International’s Sovereign of the Seas in 1988 – was the start of an ongoing partnership to create beautiful ships, which now extends to numerous other lines including Celebrity Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Silversea, Viking River Cruises and of course, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, to name a few.
Onboard art is chosen to be consistent with clients’ goals and brand vision and Europa 2 was no exception. “Hapag-Lloyd had a clear idea that they wanted to concentrate on pieces from German and European artists, for a high-quality, crisp and contemporary look,” says Nesjar. As a result, some big names are destined for the newbuild’s suites and public spaces including David Hockney, Hans Hartung, Adam Fuss, Gerhard Richter and Olafur Eliasson, with work from Damien Hirst – a series of butterfly images in 80 different colours in his infamous pop-art style – featuring in the Grand Penthouse and Owner Suites.
But before approaching an artist, ICArt comes up with a wrapping for the art concept, called the ‘red thread’ that is based on the brief, and is the creative umbrella that continues throughout a vessel and its entire collection. “On Oasis of the Seas the red thread is ‘The Wonder of Our World’ which highlights physical beauty, while on Allure of the Seas, it is also ‘The Wonder of Our World’, but is centred around its people and cultures,” says Blackman. “Navigator of the Seas has one of my favourite red threads – ‘Art for Art’s Sake’, which celebrates the pure beauty and scope of art including pieces created from everyday objects. The biggest thrill is coming up with the red threads and seeing them executed onboard. This gives each ship its own personality because interiors are so alike, but art changes.”
When it comes to funding for the variety of projects ICArt undertakes, the company’s slogan is that ‘no job is too small or too big’ and budgets vary enormously, as Blackman explains: “We have executed ship projects that range from US$50,000 to US$13 million and everything in between – around US$130 million for Royal Caribbean across their fleet including the Vision-class, Radiance-class, Voyager-class and Oasis-class ships. Some projects feature very important art collections while others may be more decorative in nature. It’s about adding value and enrichment to the guest experience. For example, Celebrity Cruises’ art collection is museum-quality and valued at about US$60 million and although there are fewer pieces than on the mega ships, the names are more recognisable and the experience is truly extraordinary.”
So substantial sums and serious art – but even serious works can project an element of fun and the ICArt team is passionate about producing the unexpected too. “Some of what we do is borderline entertainment, especially for Royal Caribbean,” says Nesjar. “We’ve created fantasy worlds in casinos, sunken ‘treasure’ floors, a kids’ area that look like an aquarium and many fun ‘surprises’, so it’s not all serious art. We created a vintage car collection for Royal Caribbean – the actual cars, adapted for the ships. One example involved working with the Morgan factory in England to create a special edition in a custom colour. That was great fun!”
Provoking thought is an important aspect to all art and the company is no less committed to the cause, but at the same time it is skilled at ensuring on a piece-by-piece basis that this doesn’t stray into offence. Nesjar says: “It is a very important part of what we do. We should try to provoke a little just to get attention so people remember what they saw because that’s what art is supposed to do. But we would never do anything that would insult or scare them. Art should stand on its own and not blend, but it should never be offensive.”
ICArt continues to get plenty of practice with a healthy portfolio continuing to attract new projects including Viking Cruises’ first ocean cruise ship, Viking Star, which is due to depart on its inaugural voyage in 2015. Nesjar says: “We are putting together a collection of high-end, basically Scandinavian artists, where the red thread is the past, present and future of Viking exploration and will focus on the Scandinavian seafarers’ travelling tradition.”
Other newbuild commissions include Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas, as well as TUI’s Mein Schiff 3 and Mein Schiff 4. Blackman says: “Quantum of the Seas is going to be very special, but I can’t say much about this project. TUI’s art collection is going to be gorgeous, with contemporary pieces and more German art. They’ve come to understand how much art can lift a ship for a small amount of spending in relation to the benefit. Judging from our current project list, it seems the message is getting through, with more and more cruise executives coming to understand the value that art can give their ships.”
ICArt’s mission to elevate cruise guests’ experiences through beautiful, high-quality onboard artworks sits firmly on track to fulfilling this vision now and into foreseeable future.
This article appeared in the Autumn/Winter 2013 edition of Cruise & Ferry Interiors. To read other articles, you can subscribe to the magazine in printed or digital formats.