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Fishing Float (1994-)

I constructed a fishing float following the directions in a fishing magazine. I used peacock feathers for the tip meant to serve as a lure and painted horizontal stripes with glow-in-the-dark paint on half the length of the float that is meant to remain above water. The float represents the dividing line on the surface of the water. When a fish is hooked under water, the action shakes the line, signaling to the fisherman that an action imperceptible from above the water has taken place. The float connects the two worlds, illustrating how the mechanism of action-reaction allows two living things in separate domains to make their existence known to each other. There is also the irony inherent in such ecological encounters: the shaking float signals life to the fisherman, which also signals death to the fish.