Ghost by Adam Chodzko has been announced as the winner of the Liberty Kent Public Art Award 2011.

The piece consists of a kayak, a coffin, a bed, a costume and a camera rig.

Chodzko conceived it in order to ferry people to the island of the dead during the Whitstable Biennale in 2010.

Deadman’s Island was a burial site for the bodies of people who had died on the prison hulks moored in the Swayle during the 18th and 19th centuries.

The vessel is made from hundreds of strips of cedar, mahogany, oak and ash sealed with resin. It incorporates iconography relating to the theme of the deathly voyage and has a mount on the deck for a video camera across its bows, which records the journey of the kayak.

The judging panel chose the piece for its value as a great physical work of art, but also because it is a locally hand crafted object, performance piece and archival work.

Stephanie Fuller, Senior Manager of Regional Planning at the Arts Council, England said that this year’s work had been ‘_of a fantastically high calibre._’

Other shortlisted pieces were A K Dolven’s Out of Tune and Sans façon Iconic Site.

Find out more about Adam Chodzko’s Ghost at the Whistable Biennial. website.

Image: © Adam Chodzko