Argo Escargot by Jen Denzin
A New Annual event presented by The Wall Station
27 September - 5 October 2025
10am - 5pm, Free
Camp Shortland (Newcastle Foreshore)
A rogue shipping container has found its way home, with a cargo of tall tales, lost histories, a healthy dose of the absurd – and a portal to another dimension.
An immersive new installation from one of Newcastle's most adored artists.
Argo Escargot pays homage to a place shaped by storms, shipwrecks and spectral echoes of the past. Embattled, weary and very happy to be home, a rogue 40’ shipping container lies belly up on the sands below Whibaygamba – Nobby’s Head. Once ‘escaped cargo’, now a wandering shell, as the rusted steels doors crank open, the fantastical freight of Argo Escargot is revealed, a sparkling, twirling sensory ephemera borne of lost histories, distorted transmissions and a healthy dose of the absurd.
It is a portal into another dimension, a liminal space in which reality and fantasy collide. Eerie tales of wartime submarines, haunting narratives of ships wrecked on the rocks, and a ribald social story meld into a multisensory immersive experience. Featuring moving lights, enigmatic projection works, velvety soundscapes and Jen Denzin’s subliminal, subversive installations, Argo Escargot begs the question: where have you been and what have you seen?
From the Pasha Bulker to car parts and clocks, from shanties to tall tales and tattooed memories, Newcastle is a crucible, a swirling basin that cradles the sea’s treasure. Argo Escargot is an investigation of these drifts of strange cargo that wash ashore in The Place of Sea Ferns, both literally and figuratively.
Surreal, interactive and wildly entertaining, Argo Escargot is an invitation to question the delicious premise of the return of a lost shipping container. This deep-sea creature has resurfaced with inexplicable artifacts from another world, arriving home with something – or someone – in tow.
Accessibility: Argo Escargot is located on a grassed area at Camp Shortland. Patrons able to traverse the grass may request access to a wheelchair ramp by contacting the event coordinator on 0422 033 055. Please note: some areas contain low lighting or bright, flashing lights.
Family friendly: Yes. Children must be supervised closely by an adult at all times.
Duration: Drop-in