“Wild Salmon on Parade” is an annual part of the fun and festivities of summer in the busy port city of Anchorage, Alaska. These special fish can be found displayed on public sidewalks, parks and store fronts all over the downtown area throughout the summer months, but the fun really begins much sooner. While snow is still on the ground early in the year, local artists present humorous, serious, playful or thought-provoking proposals for their “fish”. This contest is open to anyone who wants to participate. A jury picks what they feel are the best twenty-one ideas each “season” from those presented and the artists who make the cut are given a blank, white “fish” form to work their own special magic on.
Each salmon is identical in shape and size when they are first handed out, but what comes back to be displayed is often outlandish, comical, spectacular, ornate, elegant and often just plain wacky!
My collaborative salmon represents “Farmed and Dangerous”, 2004, and speaks to the dangers of consuming farmed salmon. The form was painted with metallic car paint, and embellished with tiles explaining some of the dangers including dyed meat, it’s unnatural, mushy, toxic, insipid and more.