Ryan Metke
Kon Tiki, 2014
Acrylic on canvas
44 x 59 in
111.8 x 149.9 cm
111.8 x 149.9 cm
Signed & dated on verso
Copyright The Artist
Kon-Tiki (Take One Down) Thor Heyerdhal was a Norwegian explorer and scientist. In 1947 Heyerdhal led an expedition across the Pacific Ocean on a raft he and his crew built...
Kon-Tiki
(Take One Down)
Thor Heyerdhal was a Norwegian explorer and scientist. In 1947 Heyerdhal led an expedition across the Pacific Ocean on a raft he and his crew built of balsa wood logs. The raft was christened 'Kon Tiki' after the Inca Sun God. Putting his money where his mouth was, Heyerdahl was the procedure in his own experiment. He had strong faith in his theory that South Americans settled Polynesia in Pre-Columbian times. Most anthropologists of the day strongly disagreed with his thesis therefore he struggled to gather funding for his expedition. Heyerdahl was able to acquire some much needed funds from the president of Peru. He used primitive building materials, methods as they would have used a thousand years before, to build his raft, the 'Kon Tiki'. Heyerdahl was advised not to attempt this four thousand mile journey, believing that the soft balsa wood logs would absorb water and sink after a few hundred miles.
With a captain and crew of six, the men fished for food, drank coconut milk and had plenty of time to imagine how life was in the ancient world. Armed with no emergency recovery equipment, morse code transmitting through a short wave radio was the crews only way to communicate with the rest of the world. After one hundred days of drifting west, powered by the Humboldt Current, the crew hit terra firma on the small island of Raoria in the Tuamotu chain. Heyerdahl kept a captain's log and recorded his voyage with a film camera later to be cut into a documentary film and a book entitled Kon-Tiki.
Upon his return he became a household name and was able to continue his research and have a long and respected career in anthropology.
The Painting Kon Tiki references Heyerdahl's expedition. The painting also directly references an ongoing project I have been working on for some time entitled 'Take One Down', a series of stamped messages on copper plates that have been sealed in glass bottles to be thrown in the ocean. As of now there are 53/99 bottle in circulation throughout the globe. The messages are all numbered and logged. Each bottle released is logged (longitude, latitude, time & date) . With intention that some of these bottles will be found by someone, somewhere, someday. The messages are accompanied by a map and some contact information, encouraging anyone who finds the message to contact me. I then can log the distance and time travelled.
Many of the quotes that are stamped in copper are borrowed from Thor Heyerdahl's book Kon Tiki.
(Take One Down)
Thor Heyerdhal was a Norwegian explorer and scientist. In 1947 Heyerdhal led an expedition across the Pacific Ocean on a raft he and his crew built of balsa wood logs. The raft was christened 'Kon Tiki' after the Inca Sun God. Putting his money where his mouth was, Heyerdahl was the procedure in his own experiment. He had strong faith in his theory that South Americans settled Polynesia in Pre-Columbian times. Most anthropologists of the day strongly disagreed with his thesis therefore he struggled to gather funding for his expedition. Heyerdahl was able to acquire some much needed funds from the president of Peru. He used primitive building materials, methods as they would have used a thousand years before, to build his raft, the 'Kon Tiki'. Heyerdahl was advised not to attempt this four thousand mile journey, believing that the soft balsa wood logs would absorb water and sink after a few hundred miles.
With a captain and crew of six, the men fished for food, drank coconut milk and had plenty of time to imagine how life was in the ancient world. Armed with no emergency recovery equipment, morse code transmitting through a short wave radio was the crews only way to communicate with the rest of the world. After one hundred days of drifting west, powered by the Humboldt Current, the crew hit terra firma on the small island of Raoria in the Tuamotu chain. Heyerdahl kept a captain's log and recorded his voyage with a film camera later to be cut into a documentary film and a book entitled Kon-Tiki.
Upon his return he became a household name and was able to continue his research and have a long and respected career in anthropology.
The Painting Kon Tiki references Heyerdahl's expedition. The painting also directly references an ongoing project I have been working on for some time entitled 'Take One Down', a series of stamped messages on copper plates that have been sealed in glass bottles to be thrown in the ocean. As of now there are 53/99 bottle in circulation throughout the globe. The messages are all numbered and logged. Each bottle released is logged (longitude, latitude, time & date) . With intention that some of these bottles will be found by someone, somewhere, someday. The messages are accompanied by a map and some contact information, encouraging anyone who finds the message to contact me. I then can log the distance and time travelled.
Many of the quotes that are stamped in copper are borrowed from Thor Heyerdahl's book Kon Tiki.