2023, Carbon fiber fishing rods, various bundles, 4 - 8 meters in length, connected by boat railing elements/stainless steel, recycled paraffin wax sculpture (1:1 oil barrel) and heating element.
LIVE BAIT — an essay by Marc James Gough
Chaîne opératoire, also known as ‘operational chain,’ refers to the sequence of steps or processes involved in the creation of a specific material or artifact. This concept is commonly used in archaeology and anthropology to describe how prehistoric societies manufactured tools, weapons, and other objects. The chaîne opératoire typically involves several stages, starting with the selection of raw materials and continuing through to the final product. Central to this idea is the concept of flow, and the transformative journey of materials from the point of procurement through to assembly - a notion upon which artist Daniel Hölzl transfixes within his works, often centering recycled materials and recontextualizing and blending the relationship between the tool and tooled.
LIVE BAIT features rows of fishing rods contorted and arranged to fit within a greenhouse. The rods, which are bent and frozen in motion, capture the energy and tension that occurs during casting, creating a sense of movement within the static space. The all-glass structure provides a fragile backdrop for the installation, emphasizing the delicate balance between the natural world and human intervention. The number of fishing rods used in the installation hints not only at the scale of the fishing industry and its impact on the environment but also at the scale of industrial destruction more broadly, as Hölzl's work reminds us of how production can disrupt cycles and redefine the balance of the natural systems. Through the manipulation of these fishing devices, which stream within the built environment, LIVE BAIT becomes a site-specific installation which is representative of larger sites of manufacturing, fabrication and extraction.
The metal tips of the rods, themselves appropriated from boat railing elements, weaponize the rods, turning them into spears and can be viewed as a symbol for all tools that are used to extract and process materials for the purposes of our consumption. Metallic and sharp, they display the violence of the unsustainable practices that, in this case, have led to the decline of many species. Moreover, the passive nature of fishing or setting a trap, allegorizes mankind’s detachment from our overconsumption. The rods, produced from carbon fiber, speak also to one of the ever-present themes in Hölzl’s work - that of carbon and the cyclical nature of its lifecycle. They indicate his fascination with the ontology of the material and the systems that dictate their flows of energy and physical phases, as well as the ways in which human intervention dictates and shifts the phenomenology of the inanimate and consumable. By using carbon fiber, attention is drawn to the wider ecological and societal issues associated with the material, and we are invited to consider the ways in which our industrial practices are inherently intertwined with natural systems.
As an installation, this exhibition also augments and transforms the project site itself. Set within a greenhouse, the gallery space becomes imbued with a sense of productivity - and we reflect on how this type of building is typically a site of agriculture, which regulates the conditions of the outside world. Through highlighting the productive capacity of the greenhouse, LIVE BAIT allows viewers to reflect on the triangulated relationship between environment, production, and consumption and challenges us to consider our implication within the chain of consumerism. The notion of productivity can be extended to the exhibition itself, which in turn is a product of artistic creativity and labour. Situated within the context of the greenhouse, the installation becomes part of this larger framework of production and extraction.
In the case of both the fishing rods and the greenhouse, however, what is missing is the produce itself - there are no fish, no live worms on the ends of hooks, nor plants within the greenhouse. Instead, outside the space, we are presented with a final sculptural element - a paraffin cast of an oil barrel which is pierced by a fishing rod, which includes a heat element. As part of a performance, this heat flows through the metal and melts the recycled wax, creating a time-based focus and in this way, the live bait can be seen as petroleum itself. Whilst the act of melting the paraffin wax, whimsically shaped by that which contains it, provides a meta-like connection between material and product, LIVE BAIT in its totality provides a visual microcosm of several chaînes opératoires - from hunting and farming, to carbon cycling the ways in which we disrupt the natural world.
Marc James Gough [b.1991, Wales] is a San Francisco based graduate of MA German Literature & Visual Culture from the University of Aberdeen, and currently works at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence.
