The Vessel

Chris Thompson

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6 December 2025 – 1 February 2026

 

PINK presented The Vessel, a site-specific installation by Chris Thompson. Reimagined for PINK’s second-floor gallery space, the work transformed the room into a shifting environment that blurred sculpture, archive, and stage set.

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Visitors moved through a large wooden structure that felt familiar and strange at the same time — part haunted house, part sci-fi relic, part container for things left behind. Drawers contained objects, sound, and video which, taken together, formed a narrative that resisted neat interpretation. Ideas of value, taste, preservation, violence, and power sat beneath the surface but never settled into a single fixed meaning.

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The work was presented as if it had been created by a fictional figure: a DIY collector constructing their own museum, memorial, or proof of something only they understood. Personal obsessions shaped the structure, while institutional symbols appeared throughout. Golden eagles sat alongside everyday cutlery. Mammoth bones appeared next to Battlestar Galactica. These juxtapositions challenged the authority, order, and logic typically associated with archives and collections.

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Interaction was central to the installation. Visitors opened drawers, handled compartments, and spoke with one another as they navigated the space. The Vessel resisted the silent, passive behaviour often expected in gallery settings, instead encouraging shared looking, guidance between strangers, and active participation. The work unfolded through collective movement and conversation.

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The Vessel was supported by funding from the UK Government.