Container Space at George Mason

In mid-December, 2009, Daniel Dean had an opening for a recently completed project, Container Space, outside the new Art and Visual Technology building on the Fairfax campus of George Mason University. The project – which received funding from the GMU Sculpture Department, Blue Army Handyman, and The George Mason University Office of Sustainability – was a collaborative project between Dean and his friend and colleague Thomas Nutt, along with several other students participating and volunteering over the course of one year.

But, why a container? "Happenstance," replied Dean.

The container was acquired by Tom Ashcraft, Associate Professor of Sculpture, who was interested in the innovative uses of containers and their modularity. In turn, he provided the container to his students, and invited them to make proposals for the container.  

A shipping container is a monstrous object, and for an artist – let alone a student artist –  one giant question exists: what do you do with it? After time had passed, and no proposals presented for the container, Dean and Nutt stepped forward, expressing interest to tackle the project, expecting it might take 3-4 months. A year later, they completed their project: a prototype for an off-grid gallery.

Their first step was rehabilitating the space. They spent weeks removing rust from the interior. The sculpture department donated Zero VOC (volatile organic compound) paints for the walls. Custom-built skylights were cut into and attached to the ceiling, each designed "to correspond with the angles of the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn and  to reaffirm the shipping container's nautical history."  But, by far the most attractive feature is the Container Space's floor, upcycled from shipping palettes and trimmed to various widths and lengths.  "All of these [palettes] we took from facilities dumpsters, destined for the landfill," remarked Dean, "to conceptually reaffirm its origin and purpose but have a practical function for making a new floor that is relatively safe and is aestheticially pleasing."  As for the walls, "We thought we could cover [the aluminum walls] or let its presence be felt," remarked Dean, who freely admitted that the decision not to insulate the space or add drywall leads to limitations. "We don't just want artists to come in here and hang their stuff. The artist has to consider and take into account the space."

To remove the gallery from the grid, Dean and Nutt added a solar panel, and sized the system to run various appliances for varied amounts of time. A laptop, projector, and stereo could run for 6 hours on one charge; or the lights could be on for two weeks. "We sized the system so you could have a lot of options to do stuff in here so that it wasn't limited to be a gallery space for just static sculpture, for instance. We wanted it open for sound or interactivity. It does not bode well for hanging prints or paintings," said Dean. However, they have included the means for artists interested in hanging pantings and prints.

When asked how sustainability can be pulled into an art context, he smiles. "I got asked at my opening, "why is this art?" Why isn't it? It is about the intention. Art's a great place for experimentation and innovation. There is art being made that is self sustaining, that is solar powered, turning on every day with the sun and turning off at night, and they repower themselves and reactivate the next day."  Art can be responsible, he adds.

Stemming from that Duchampian element of intention, and borrowing from lessons learned as a collaborator with his past few years in The Floating Lab Collective, Dean intends for The Container Space to act as a catalyst for other opportunities: a place for established artists to propose projects; a place for students to learn how to propose projects and present work professionally; and a place for the community outside of Mason to gather during Container events. "We want this to run as professionally as it can... with no budget." Unfortunately, Dean will not be around in the coming years to oversee how the space is run; as a recent graduate of George Mason University's Art and Visual Technology department, he is passing the reigns of the gallery to Blake Turner, one of volunteers who helped assist with the restoration of the shipping container.  During this transition, the summer months will likely be quiet for the shipping container, as Dean and Turner update the Container Space website. However, proposals are being accepted and reviewed for the upcoming academic calendar. Interested artists are encouraged to e-mail proposals to  human@containerspace.org