Background Image credit to Grégoire Cachemaille, www.gregoirec.com

The Importance of Fishing

The Importance of Fishing is the fourth piece in James’s “Importance” series, a tongue-in-cheek exploration of how the antics of our animal cousins might offer perspective when life gets a little too serious!

When the going gets tough, it’s time to go fishing. Then again, in a bear market, there’s never a better time to go fishing.

Crafted from decades dead wood and recycled marine grade stainless steel, this 400 kg grizzly triumphantly holds a shimmering salmon in its paw. The sculpture stands atop a three-meter column of “pebbles” formed from repurposed marine-grade stainless steel. Drawing on a lifetime of technical ingenuity, James has designed a concealed water delivery system that channels water through the core of the pebble tower and into a cleverly hidden cistern at its peak. Water also streams from the salmon itself, cascading into a hidden reservoir below where it is filtered and recirculated—again and again.

Weight: 643 kg
Dimensions: 187 × 139 × 412 (L × W × H cm, approximate)
Materials: Long dead wood, Sculpted, welded and attached onto a recycled marine grade stainless steel armature
Cost: £35,000