Fish Stories
Site-specific student built and installed environmental art installation – Hull City Trail Project, UK
- Completion Date: Fall 1992
- Media: Stretch knit fabric, PVC pipe, wood, paint and bubble-making system
- Location: Beverly Gate, Kingston Upon Hull, UK
- Dimensions: 10 ft (H) x 15 ft (W) x 40 ft (L)
- Budget: $2,000 plus in-kind support of students and faculty, Humberside University
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Invited as a visiting artist to participate in an Architecture and Design course at Humberside University titled Art, Architecture and the Collaborative Process in the fall term, 1992, Layne worked with students to design and build a large-scale environmental sculpture as part the celebration of the opening of the Hull City Trail. Artists from around the UK had been invited to create artworks and install them on buildings and in sideways throughout Hull, creating a memorial arts trail celebrating the maritime history of the city.
The large Stargazer sculpture, titled Fish Stories, was installed in the depressed historic Hull City Gate located in the center of the city. Intended to highlight fish and fishermen of Hull’s past, visitors could look along the top of the dorsal fin and find the Pisces constellation. For centuries, fisherman employed the zodiac to navigate the northern seas. Broadcasted taped recordings of fisherman’s stories about the sea added a community inspired educational element to the installation. A bubble machine continued to produce bubble that emitted from the fishes mouth while young people also created bubbles that attracted city visitors to the site and installation.
Gallery
"My sculptural environments are aesthetically pleasing site-specific artworks that connect nature and culture by employing the three legacies for regenerative and sustainable design of (1) environment: natural systems, (2) education: experiential systems, and (3) engagement: cultural systems. By using a variety of art media and fabrication methods to create sculptural open spaces that are intended to support personal rejuvenation and inspiration, my sculptures provide venues for environmental learning and community celebration.”
Contact
Environment, Education, Engagement
Michael Roy Layne, Ph.D., RLA, ASLA
Environmental Sculptor • Landscape Architect • Community Artist
Studio/Workshop
135 South Main Street
Warrenton, North Carolina 27589
Office
442 S. Main Street
Warrenton, North Carolina 27589
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