**Fyke Net** *Steel frame, netting, two channel projection, Carnivore network sniffing program* *10 min looping video, 25' x 19' approx.* The form of this piece is based on a fishing trap used in streams called a fyke net (Dutch for fish). Fyke nets work by directing creatures swimming with the current into a chamber which funnels them into a smaller 'pot' that is closed at one end. They are popular for catching young glass eels. On the transclucent wings are projected videos coming from a computer program using the Processing library Carnivore, a surveillance tool for networks. In this case, Carnivore is reading all the data being sent and received from a computer in the gallery as it ambiently performs routine checks and updates. The IP addresses of these senders and the host computer are plotted as eel eggs on the screen, imposed over the satellite view of Halifax's underwater data cable receiving station, located out in Herring Cove. --- # About Fyke Net Upon entering the gallery, a large structure reaches out to meet you: two wings of light, gauzy fabric stretch from the walls downward and into a cubic frame. Projected video catches on each wing: a satellite image of a coastline with a road tracing the edge, and small, blue and green circles appearing on top every so often, creating lines that ripple out and connect each new one back to a central hub. The structure consists of three narrowing spaces leading to the end of the tunnel open, through which you can peek at the other half of the gallery beyond. The first space is a six foot cube followed by a narrower frame covered on the sides and top by the white fabric stretched around the metal frame. At the end of the frame is the doorway leading out of the gallery. On either side there's room to step into this half of the enclosed gallery, where more artwork is installed: [[Artwork - Wifi Capture|mesh fishing trap forms]] mounted on the walls and hanging with power cords, and [[Artwork - Tracery|a grid of transparencies map]] the front windows. You've walked through the portal, the trap, and into the network. ## The shape of the net The form of this piece is based on a fishing trap used in streams and low water called a fyke net (fyke being derived from the Dutch word for fish). Fyke nets work by directing creatures swimming with the current, first using wide lead nets into a chamber, which funnels them into a smaller 'pot' that is closed at one end. Its egress (or exit point) is sealed or otherwise difficult to find for creatures in either direction.   Fyke nets can be used for catching a variety of fish, but are popular when [[1. Finding an eel pot|catching glass eels]]. In a landscape shaped by geologic and watery movements, the walls interrupt, a human construction imposing a different path of movement. ![[../Media Sources/FykeNetEelTraffiking.jpg]] ## Walking into the net(work) In this body of work, the fyke net is scaled up to human proportions. It divides the space of the gallery and becomes an entrance and exit point between them. Visitors must move through its heart and funnels if they want to see the work on the other side. Once there, they can either make their way back through the relatively small opening, or find another means of exit. The space of the gallery is transformed into something similar to the original woven eel pot, with a funnel that leads into the pot's interior space, and a larger exit that can be opened by the fisher. On the transclucent wings are projected video coming from a computer program using the Processing library [Carnivore](https://r-s-g.org/carnivore/), a surveillance tool for networks. In this case, Carnivore is reading all the data being sent and received from a computer in the gallery as it ambiently performs routine checks and updates. The IP addresses of these senders and the host computer are plotted as eel eggs on the screen, imposed over the satellite view of [[2. Finding Cable Wharf#Searching for my local cable connection|Halifax's cable receiving station]] located out in Herring Cove. As you walk through the body of the fyke net, your own body may be forced to condense and your range of movement restricted. The physical form of the work – and the social norms and rules of an art gallery – impose a way of interacting with it that directs visitors' bodies through space. [[5. drifting on the web|Like drifters]], we move through spaces directed by currents, particularly when there are other bodies in the room. In electrical terms, current is the flow of charged bodies in a complete (looped) circuit. As visitors enter the second half of the room, they are trapped within until they decide to exert energy finding the exit, or egress point. In a playful sense, I like the idea of trapping visitors in the space with the artwork and others. I'm curious to see how people respond to their limited attention span and growing desire to escape, or move on. ## This way to egress In thinking about bodies movement through enclosed spaces, egress comes up both as a concept and practical concern. Egress legally refers to the right of a person to leave a property. It also is used to describe the pathway to exit, or ways *out* of the building. When architects design a building, they must consider and include multiple means of egress in case of fire, or otherwise.[^1] In the gallery space *Fyke Net* is installed in, the doorway 'inside' the trap is also an emergency exit, leading directly outside. The term is also used in software, to describe data leaving the network while moving to an outside location, as well as to describe the passage of electromagnetic fields through the shield of a cable, such as what happens with underwater cables carrying huge charges, that attract creatures. My favourite example of the term comes from P. T. Barnum, showman and circus-owner, who placed signs reading "This way to the Egress" in his American Museum, leading visitors to what they thought was a creature named 'Egress', but was actually an exit. If they wanted to see the rest of the museum, they would have to pay admission once again.[^2] ## Transparency vs. translucency The walls of the trap are made of a light, synthetic fabric that both catches the light from the projected video and windows, as well as letting some pass through, turning figures into ghosts. Between transparency (all apparently revealed) vs. translucency (partially revealed), my preference is towards translucency. Translucency creates blurriness or fuzziness, adding noise to the visual communication of what lies beyond and allowing imagination to fill in the rest. My attraction to translucency lead to my interest in eel's juvenile forms: young eels are translucent until they begin turning into elvers. You can see inner organs as they form, creating a sense of vulnerability, even as it provides camouflage for them as they move from saltwater to freshwater. They become a visual collection of lines as they grow, as they become.[^3] Here, they're caught in the wings of the trap as they metaphorically carry messages from the computer to external systems and back. ![[Media Sources/glasseels_trafficking.jpg]] --- To: [[Index]] - [[Artwork - Tracery|Artwork - Tracery]] - [[Artwork - Wifi Capture]] - [[Artwork - Currents|Artwork - Currents]] - [[Artwork - Eelektrosluching|Artwork - Eelektrosluching]] --- [^1]: [[../references/99% Invisible - Good Egress - 2014|99% Invisible - Good Egress - 2014]] [^2]: [[../references/Christine Benner Dixon - This Way to the Egress - 2018|Christine Benner Dixon - This Way to the Egress - 2018]] [^3]: [[../references/Tim Ingold - Life of Lines|Tim Ingold - Life of Lines]] --- #local_cable_receiving_station #net #trap #eels #walking #translucency #drifting