Fishing Wire Experiments (20/02/2014)

I have taken my experiments with fishing wire in three different directions, paying attention to my varied interests in it physical properties or poetic connotations. The first route I have taken is to continue the use of fishing line to create mystery and uncertainty, as I did in my outcome to the Sculpture brief. Using subtlety as a medium to evoke mystery, I have manipulated straight lengths of yarn so that they bend in a seemingly impossible (or supernatural) course.

 In the left photo I have lit the installation so that both the yarn and the fishing wire is visible, and the right photo is an inverted image which illustrates the idea of lighting the installation in a darkened room. My aim in these explorations is to begin to question where the artwork stops, whether the fishing wire is part of the work or just a means of display. In my opinion the wire is undoubtedly part of the work, but I wonder whether this is the same for artists such as Cornelia Parker and Damian Ortega who use thin wires to suspend objects. To clarify, what I mean by a "part of the work" is whether the audience is asked to look at it and question it in the way they would the rest of the work.

The second thread of my material investigation is knitting with the fishing wire. I did not know how to knit beforehand and have never done it previously, but reading books about feminist art and the incorporation of traditional crafts into contemporary art made me want to try. I started to think about the significance of fishing wire, how it can trap and entangle and be oppressive, as opposed to the wool or yarn usually used in knitting which is associated with protection, warmth and comfort. I am also interested in the juxtaposition of the conventionally male and female occupations/pursuits of fishing and knitting, how they are joined in one material, one image. I love the visual connection that the knitting has to nets, which catch and ensnare, and webs, which have an added association with habitats and safety.

I find this experiment particularly weighty with potential connotations, and I feel I could find a lot of interest in it. However, it must be acknowledged that there are several flaws with this idea which I think will prevent me from taking the idea further. Although this was my first attempt, I am not experienced with knitting, and fishing wire was not made to be used in this way it must be questioned whether the maquette is good enough aesthetically. I am drawn to the image of it above because of how the strands are visible through each other and intertwine in a fascinating way as if made of glass. In real life scale this is not as visible and the piece loses those qualities. In order to do this n a large scale it would take a very, very long time and I'm not sure that I am willing to take that risk at present. I would certainly like to continue this idea in future, maybe with the medium of photography instead of sculpture.

The third main idea that I have been developing is wrapping objects in fishing line in a precise, measured manner so that it creates a solid 'material' from the thread. So far I have done this with metal, off-cuts and a balloon. An interesting and unexpected result with the metal offcuts is that the PVA glue reacts with the metal, leaving a yellow/brown residue on the surface of the fishing line.

 

 

 

 

Visually, these experiments have produced some really intriguing results. I love the way light passes through the ordered lines of the wire, and this is even more interesting with the added residue of the rusty metal. I feel like I have found a motif that I want to develop further but I'm not sure how I am goingto do this yet.