So the Red Rose is a project by Derek Tyman and Andy Webster and was developed in collaboration with curator Peter Kees for the 2nd Arkadien Festival, Kunstverein Ebersberg, 2021.
Story
In July 1985, independent-minded environmentalist Vanda Chan set off in Arkadia, her home-made houseboat, to sail the short distance from Pulawat towards Pulpap Atolls (Micronesia). A storm however caused her to change course and the houseboat hit rocks close to an uninhabited island. Chan believed she would be found quickly, but her solitude would last over 8 months before she was rescued.
Chan managed to salvage a few personal artefacts including an old atlas (by the radical geographer Élisée Reclus **), a cassette player, a broken ship radio, and most importantly, a box of recordings of radio broadcasts which had accompanied her on previous expeditions. The radio was irreparable, but she managed to fix the onboard solar panel system to power the cassette player. To pass time, and what would become a regular daily routine, Chan would browse through the Reclus atlas whilst playing the tapes.
In complete solitude, she became engrossed in listening to and making playlists of the recordings and this became a catalyst for undertaking imaginary travel, where her only option was to look towards her own imagination. The tapes were no longer simply a collection of songs but virtually prompted her to move from place to place and imagine the future.
