Fishbones

undoing some other stitcher's work
i needle-picked the nerves from your spine
punctured your fat balsamic pool eye
and what did you give?
a little comb inside.

Short little musing on one of the weirdest things I have probably done. My GCSE art project was based on the stimulus 'land, sea and sky' - from this I was obviously inspired to buy two whole seabass from Morrison's fishmongers, take them home and photograph them under harsh desk lamp light.

 My thinking at the time was that the light would catch the glimmer of fish scales. Upon reflection, the images came out more like gritty crime scene photography from an ITV procedural (with a particularly piscatorial victim). Then came the crazed idea that only the bones would do - I stewed the little fish bodies in the biggest kitchen pot till their flesh scraped off. In an effort for the skull, I took to the eyes with a sharp prick and watched them deflate. The kinder egg surprise of a perfect fish spine through all the fleshy gunk was a satisfying one. I kept the skeleton on my desk for months after.

I walked out of Year 11 with a grade seven in art. My teacher had been careful to praise my 'great eye for composition' and not the manic content of my work. I was not a challenging or profound artist, I think I was just a bit odd. Oh dear. Please find photographic evidence attached.