The Knife Ship became the protagonist of the performance held in Venice on the Campo dell'Arsenale, September 6, 7 and 8, 1985. With its corkscrew and blades folded upward, the Knife Ship echoed vertical structures such as the campanile of San Marco and the parapet of the Arsenale, while its color, red, could be associated with the city's ancient ceremonial ship, the Bucintoro. By coincidence, the knife, with its blades and corkscrew, could be equated with fish and snakes, the two biomorphic shapes used by Il Corso del Coltello co-author Frank Gehry in his architecture.
See more of Claes' giant artwork: http://www.oldenburgvanbruggen.com/lsp.htm (Thanks Fennec!)