SQUID BOAT

Hughes gazed at the ocean and thought about the strange beauty of the squid-fishing boats, their lights cutting through the darkness and illuminating the night sky. He thought about how the collected plastic PET bottle he had placed on the roof at Gapado AiR was just one small part of a complex network of human activities affecting the ocean. 

Using intensely bright lights to attract squid to their deaths these squid-fishing vessels often have between 180 to 700 light bulbs on large poles. The intensity of these lights creates a strange surreal reflected glow from the ocean surface toward the sky. It looks like the sea is projecting light from the deep - in effect a reversal of the daytime process of light penetrating the ocean from the sky above. 

This unfinished work is part of an ongoing series of video vignettes, using still photographs that are post-produced via various means to inject presence and aliveness into 'dead' matter. Hughes is using this process to explore the idea of plastic pollution in the ocean, and the idea of capturing a moment of stillness that can exist in the midst of such intense activity. 

Text and video artworks by Andy Hughes © 2023 / No unauthorised copying allowed without permission