FLYING FISH I - BASIL-ESK

PART OF A UNIQUE SET OF BRONZES CREATED FOR FARLEYS FARMHOUSE

Like the classic ‘Basil Fawlty’ ... this strange fish seems to be awkward and out of touch ... and not a little scary. But he is the BIG DADDY of this small and unusual society. With more than the average fingers ... he has twice as much to do to keep his charges together. Not easy as they are a very diverse collection of characters.

BASIL-ESK is famous for his ‘Dad dancing’ ... charming ... lugubrious ... and slightly comical. He sees himself striking an elegant arabesque each time the breeze catches him.

 

Why fish with hands?

Whenever I see images of fish ... especially the coelacanth (the fish with arm and leg bones where fins should be) ... I am reminded that we all descended from amoeba ... who emerged from the sea.

... are we closer relatives than we might at first think?

 

It is known that all creatures have sentience ... maybe not so surprising as it seems that our ancestors had quite a while to develop this ability to experience feelings and sensations ... long before we appeared. It is increasingly we are finding more evidence that many creatures can reason too.

We now know that animals have language and many of us have seen instances of ‘self-awareness’ ... which has traditionally been considered a unique human attribute.

Many of the photographs were taken by the very gifted Jenny Batty.

The Flying Fish were cast into bronze in our own foundry, here at the Muse, and originally created in 2021 for a Corsican Pine at Farleys Farm House & Garden, Chiddingly, East Sussex. The fish and handprints are hung from stainless steel thread (industrial quality!).

Farleys ARTIST’S HOUSE, ART GALLERY & SCULPTURE GARDEN @FarleysHG Home of The Surrealists #LeeMiller, #RolandPenrose & the @LeeMillerArchives         

@Farleyshg www.farleyshouseandgallery.co.uk

"We had a #FANTASTIC day 'hanging' The BASELESK along with CLOWN FLYER; FLYIN SIREN; LEERY CHANCER and PRITTI FISHEY ... as much fun as joining the circus ... I climbed about 25 feet up into the very special Corsican Pine … working with Pete Penfold & the lovely folk at FARLEYS HOUSE AND GARDEN - Antony Penrose, Ami Bouhassane and Jenny Batty, taking some cracking photos #WorkingTogether"

Sioban was a delighted to be exhibiting at FARLEYS ARTIST’S HOUSE AND SCULPTURE GARDEN … about 7 meters up the beautiful Corsican Pine!

First to fly - ‘BASIL-ESK’ ... a #BigDaddy in the world of Flying #FishFingers. He’s Firm but Fair … and (almost) always commands respect, but boy can he move!