Fish and Chips – installation

In 2014 we were invited to participate in The Lock-Up’s Inside Outside Exhibition with artist Ruth Feeney. We were given the inside John Paynter Gallery to space to work in whilst Ruth took the outside Exercise Yard. We called our installation Fish and Chips as a reflection on the primary materials used: hot chip packaging, fishing line and sinkers…

Our intent was to make a piece that changed the atmosphere of the space through organic form and dappled light whilst maintaining the natural paths of travel in the gallery. One of the most successful aspects of the final installation is that it was mobile and alive always subtly moving with the changes of air temperature and direction in the space.

Process is important to us in any project, we started by a bit of analysis of the space we were to work in and developed the idea with the construction sequence in mind, the images below attempt to illustrate that process.

The interior of the gallery space prior to installation.

The assembly of the cone construct on the guided structural panels.

The transportation of the prefabricated panels.

The positioning and bolting together of pairs of panels prior to raising them into ceiling.

The panels mounted and the shaping of the installation begun.

It was important to us that the piece was as appealing when viewed from above (where it dips) as it was from below (under the canopy).

From our analysis of the existing gallery, the available clerestory window was an opportunity. With clear skies tracking of shadows of the day’s progress was evident in motion within the installation and and on the gallery floor.