Three figures and a shrimp mask - Max Brenner, Michael Plessl, and collector Joachim Rubner - sit on a small sailboat slowly navigating the Old Danube. On the mainsail, a color-saturated shrimp appears compressed into the triangular fabric on one side, while its black silhouette emerges on the reverse.

In sailing terms, “spinnaker shrimpen” describes a maneuver in which the sail falls into the water, turning propulsion into drag. This image captures that moment of transformation, reflecting the tension between movement and resistance.

Shrimps, as swarm creatures, commodities, and consumer goods, inspire the work’s exploration of substitution, dependency, and collective identity. By participating, the collector is momentarily part of the collective—his involvement influences the course of action, yet his belonging remains negotiated.

Every maneuver on the boat requires precision, making participation a test of coordination and presence. The performance probes the fragile balance between intimacy and distance, artistic autonomy and economic entanglement. The boat becomes a shifting space where belonging, influence, and identity are constantly renegotiated— a voyage between propulsion and resistance, image and shadow, presence and substitution.