Autoxylocycloboros
Autoxylocycloboros (2006) is a seminal project by Turner Prize-winning artist Simon Starling, documented through a series of photographs and slide transparencies. The work centres on a self-destructive, circular voyage across Loch Long in a small wooden steamboat. Starling powered the vessel by feeding pieces of its own wooden hull into the boiler, resulting in an entropic journey that ultimately caused the boat to sink back into the water from which it had been reclaimed.
The title references the Ouroboros, the mythical serpent that consumes its own tail — an image of cyclical renewal and self-consumption reflected in the boat's literal destruction as a means of movement. The project also engages with the complex history of Loch Long, the birthplace of the steamship and the site of nearby Trident submarine bases, juxtaposing idyllic landscape with the presence of military infrastructure.
Starling's work emphasises process over product, exploring themes of technology, obsolescence, environmental tension, and the absurdity of self-propelling systems that consume their own foundations.
The title references the Ouroboros, the mythical serpent that consumes its own tail — an image of cyclical renewal and self-consumption reflected in the boat's literal destruction as a means of movement. The project also engages with the complex history of Loch Long, the birthplace of the steamship and the site of nearby Trident submarine bases, juxtaposing idyllic landscape with the presence of military infrastructure.
Starling's work emphasises process over product, exploring themes of technology, obsolescence, environmental tension, and the absurdity of self-propelling systems that consume their own foundations.
