"The sea is the backbone of globalization and exchanges of global culture," Cosmin Costinas, executive director of Para Site and one of the curators of the exhibition, tells CNN of the thinking behind the project.

"Art can help us better understand the world in which we live, and the complicated exchanges, structures and flows that lie at the core of it."

Creative sailing

Following an open call for applications, a jury headed by New-York-based designer and exhibition co-curator, Prem Krishnamurthy, selected seven artists from a field of more than 2,000 proposals. The artists were invited to board a ZIM shipping route of their choice, with freedom to produce their work while on board or after the journey.

Although the idea for the residency was the first of its kind, others have since embarked on similar projects.

The great connector

"The space of the sea is the great connector of the world," Costinas says. "This makes it a crucial space for pretty much every other discussion."

Supported by this philosophical backbone, Creative Operational Solutions sets out to comprehend the effects of such an increasingly globalized and commercial world, and the impact it's had on artists.

"There's less and less public money for art, and private money is becoming the dominant force in artistic production and cultural exchanges," Costinas explains.

In this respect, while ZIM's involvement in and sponsorship of the project may have been a decision based on public relations or corporate social responsibility benefits, the Container Artist Residency seeks to confront this reality.

Instead of being held hostage by commercial forces, the artists seek to make this sponsorship and the forces of global commerce the subject and critique of their work.

As Costinas says, ZIM was aware that the artists chosen "would not just take pretty pictures of the sea."

Contracted inspiration

A note on the box states that the artwork is only concluded once it is auctioned -- at which moment it must be destroyed with the hammer she supplies.

In the Hong Kong exhibition, two of the crates' interiors have been hung on the wall, while the third sits fully assembled to the side.

Costinas points out that, in the context of the present global political climate, Creative Operational Solutions couldn't be better timed.

"It analyzes the backbone of our globalized world, and that's what's being put under question these days," he says.