I recently had the chance to experience helping out with an amazing installation at the Harbourfront Centre. The exhibition is called FishNet The Great Lakes Craft and Release Project. Claire Ironside and Angela Iarocci created this amazing display with the assistance from students all over the greater-Toronto area. Schools of children as well as local artists crafted the over-1,000 fish that were suspended from the ceiling at the gallery.

I personally helped string and hang the fish for this display. Ironically, one would think that it would be easy to string up some fish anywhere in a room. But, when there is a logical reasoning to how the fish are suspended, you realize how many more details there are that cannot be missed. Each fish that was suspended in the room was tagged with a certain number code. That way, if you were a student that created a fish, you would be able to find where your fish was hanging in the gallery. The spacing of each string was a measured science, as well as the location of each species on each string that was suspended.

The following are some images from the opening night of the exhibition, but in order to get the best sense of amazement from this display, it must be visited in person!

The FishNet Project exhibition is currently still on display until June 22nd at the Harbourfront Centre at 235 Queens Quay West in Toronto. Please drop by to see an amazing project come to life. Also, if you feel inspired, you may donate money to release one of the fish suspended in the room. You would also be supporting a charity dedicated to reviving and protecting the Great Lakes bio-region and its fish stocks. As well, a small portion of the funds collected will also be used to ‘release’ crafted fish into other schools in the Great Lakes to spread the program’s educational component.