Guppy 13 vs Ocean Wave; a Bas Jan Ader Experience
Guppy 13 vs Ocean Wave; a Bas Jan Ader Experience Artist Ahmet Ögüt's sailboat Guppy 13 with a tactile replica for blind and visually impaired visitors Boudewijn Bollmann
Bas Jan Ader
Of the Guppy 13, one of the smallest sailing boats in the world, only 300 were made. Dutch artist Bas Jan Ader wanted to cross the Atlantic Ocean on one of these. He left from Cape Cod on 9 July 1975 on his boat named Ocean Wave. Unfotunately, after three weeks all radio contact with him broke down. Nine months later his boat was discovered unmanned off the Irish coast. Ader’s body was never found.
Ahmet Ögüt
Never arriving in a place inspired the Kurdish-Turkish artist Ahmet Ögüt, who works in Amsterdam, to create the work Guppy 13 vs Ocean Wave; a Bas Jan Ader Experience. In 2010 Ögüt invited the public to sit on a Guppy 13 sailing boat for a few minutes on the IJ river. This way, they could experience what Bas Jan Ader must have felt like at sea.
Tactile replica
In the tower of the Van Abbemuseum's New Building hangs Ögüts Guppy 13. A model of this boat is also located at the same height. This tactile object makes Ahmet Ögüt's work ‘visible’ to blind and visually impaired visitors.
