Ship of the Gods: a ghostly and immersive installation by Anna Heinrich and Leon Palmer

When you keep revisiting your experience, through a YouTube video, of an installation you experienced 3 years ago as part of Hull’s 2018 Freedom Festival it has to be special and the ‘Ship of the Gods’ by Anna Heinrich and Leon Palmer was just that. I wanted to post some stills alongside the complete video of the ‘immersive architectural’ installation after realising that although over 40,000 people had watched the ghostly immersive installation in Hull Minster and then Trinity Square in Hull (commissioned by Absolutely Cultured for Urban Legends: Northern Lights) between 29 November – 2 December 2018, not everyone had or could see it. ‘Ship of the Gods’ was ‘inspired by the Norse myth of Skidbladnir, a magical shape-shifting vessel which was large enough to carry all the gods and their equipment yet could be folded up small enough to fit inside a pocket. Heinrich and Palmer connect[ed] this story with the landscapes of Norway and Hull’s maritime history, re-imagining Skidbladnir through the forms of the Arctic Corsair, the Spurn Lightship and models found within Hull Maritime Museum and Hull and East Riding Museum. Using film, 3D laser scanning technology, sound and lighting effects, the ghostly, ephemeral Ship of the Gods… sail[ed] and transform[ed] through the majestic space of Hull Minster.’ (Heinrich and Palmer, 2018).

Here is the full video posted onto YouTube by Anna Heinrich and Leon Palmer. Watch with the sound on to get a better experience.

‘Ship of the Gods was supported by Hull: Yorkshire’s Maritime City, Hull City Council, Heritage Lottery Fund, Hull Culture and Leisure Ltd, Humber Museums Partnership and Arts Council England. Landscape sequences created using open data provided by the Norwegian Mapping Authority, ©Kartverket, http://www.kartverket.no. Original 3D Lidar scans undertaken by CT Surveys and Laser Scanning UK Ltd’ (Heinrich and Palmer, 2018)