A ARMADILHA
THE TRAP
INTERACTIVE SCULPTURE AT FORTALEZA DE SANTIAGO DE SESIMBRA
SUMMER 2021
Context
An interactive sculpture inspired by the traditional fish-trap designs used in octopus hunting, but at a human scale.
The supesized fishtrap is designed to allow the average human adult to enter, but only the little young humans are confortable inside.
An analogy for what happens with the intended prey, the octopuss, wich gets inside the trap, atracted by the small bait, yet it cant get out anymore, albeit the other small fish are free to enter and leave, or choose to make trap their home. The entrance funnels entice the viewers to venture inside the fish-trap where they can experience the claustrophobia of an animal caught up in the cage. Its easy to get in, but difficult to escape it.
Content
A 4x4x2 meters sculpture
construction steel rods,
reused fishnets, cotton thread,
plastic hulahoops
Process
A presentation video by the Maritime Museum on the overall project and the process, featuring mestre Xixa, our master in fishnet sewing.
Initially, this project was designed to have the participation of the public and a few scheduled school visits for the collective sewing of the piece, as a way to share the knowledge of the local traditional arts and crafts of fishing activities.
Unfortunately, due to the COVID pandemic, we had to readjust, and most of the work was done by mestre Xixa, Ângela and some of the courageous museum visitors that had the chance to practice some fishnet sewing with us.
