June 10 – July 31, 2001

Salmon Song, created as part of the Salmon in the City project, comments on the despiritualization of salmon and the desecration of their habitat.  The mixed media installation creates an artificial environment consisting of a central double helix shape of gas pump hoses and nozzles suspended from the ceiling which surround a school of hatchlings represented by salmon cookie cutters.  The empty shapes suggest the salmon are lost due to the dynamics of commercial enterprise, leaving behind ghostly frames.  All four gallery walls are plastered with a gamut of advertising signs, characterizing the environmental challenges the fish face at birth.  Classical music and soothing water sounds emanate from quadraphonic speakers and provide a counterpoint to the loud and visually aggressive images.  From the first floor of the Jack Straw building, TV sets facing toward the street play video footage of rivers and waterfalls.

Artists