In 2025, it is fifty years since Bas Jan Ader set sail from Cape Cod on the American east coast to the Netherlands in a tiny sailing boat. The journey was part of his project In Search of the Miraculous, which was to be completed with a solo exhibition at the Groninger Museum. However, he disappeared at sea, one of the most talked-about mysteries in modern art history. Where could he have disappeared to? Suppose the boat were to leave America now, where would it end up?
Edward Clydesdale Thomson created the installation Bound to the Miraculous, inspired by the fateful sailing journey. Using live weather data and maritime simulation, a virtual sailboat sails repeatedly from Cape Cod to Europe—always vulnerable to the growing unpredictability of our climate, and always starting over after each failed crossing.
Bound to the Miraculous is a project that Edward Clydesdale Thomson has been working on for six years, in collaboration with Utrecht University and the Game Technology Master's program at Breda University of Applied Sciences, among others. Clydesdale Thomson recently founded the Landfall foundation in Nijeveen, Drenthe, where he currently works and lives. His aim is to find a way to work more collectively and exchange knowledge with other experts and artists on an equal basis.
The installation allows you to follow the boat in real time. You can follow the journey and stay constantly informed about the current weather conditions on the ocean and how rough the sea is at that moment. In terms of form and content, Bound to the Miraculous is a unique installation. It tells the story of an individual who seeks freedom, who explores the limits of his own possibilities and expresses a romantic longing for what lies beyond the horizon.
Alongside Edward Clydesdale Thomson's installation, the museum is also hosting a small exhibition about Bas Jan Ader. This exhibition will include documents and photographs about Bas Jan Ader's Groningen roots and his original plan to complete his project In Search of the Miraculous at the Groninger Museum.
