Artists Claudius Schulze and Maciej Markowicz have embarked on a voyage through Europe's waterways on two self-built motorized houseboats. The aptly-named 2Boats project involves the pair traveling to multiple destinations, including Paris and Amsterdam, while meeting people and documenting their journey.
Schulze's houseboat, named Conquest of the Improbable, is mostly made from recycled materials, including the exterior walls, decking, and windows. It was built with help from friends and features solar panels and a terrace on its roof, which is accessed by ladder.
Propulsion is provided by a Yamaha engine specially designed for slow heavy vessels like houseboats. Its interior features a composting toilet, kitchen area, couch, hammock and bed. The artist gets water by simply filtering the water the houseboat is floating on, though we've no information about the filtration system in use.
When the craft is docked, visitors are welcomed aboard to check out his photography and take part in discussions on topics like the environment, something Schulze is heavily involved in.
Markowicz's houseboat, the Obscurabus, is more sleek and modern-looking and works as an oversized camera obscura. He built it using marine plywood, with some help from his brother and friend, over the course of three months. It's also powered by the same type of Yamaha engine.
Because of the photographic process he's using, Markowicz spends much of his day in darkness. So when designing his vessel, he made sure he'd have a daylight-filled living space to relax in. It's very well done and one notable addition to the space is a Murphy-style drop-down bed hidden behind one of the photos framed on the wall.
When docked, guests can hop aboard and see the camera obscura in action as well as check out a photographic record of the artist's journey so far. Markowicz has been exploring the idea of moving cameras for several years now, and previously outfitted a 1970's VW bus with a camera and drove around NYC taking photographs.
The 2Boats project is itself part of the Übermut project, which highlights German creativity. It's still ongoing and will conclude in June at the Hamburg Triennial of Photography, which runs from June to September, 2018.
Sources: Übermut, Maciej Markowicz, Claudius Schulze