"J'ai la Pêche / Gone Fishing..." is a light & sound interactive installation. A place to seat, listen, think and reconnect with water and the city

"Throughout history Chinese scholars and mandarins had traditionally taken up fishing when they were disillusioned with what the emperor was doing. Fishing suggested a retreat to nature, an escape from politics of the day. It was a kind of symbol for disenchantment..."

Jung Chan, Wild Swans 

The PROJECT

Believe or not, this project was inspired by the French President Jacques Chirac: years ago, he was campaigning for elections and while stressing the importance of a good urban environment, he promised to make the Seine river and the canals network clean so to swim and fish again. This was of course contrasting with the actual quality of water and the fact that you could easily "fish" a car tire or a scooter if you ever wanted to try and disregard the City's rules forbidding fishing.  

I thought it was the moment to give my contribution to the debate about water and the city.

"J'ai la pêche" it's a French expression meaning "I feel energetic", and the word "pêche" means "to fish".

I liked that!

I decided to make a huge installation using fly fishing rods and replacing the line with an electro-luminescent fiber. Each fishing rod would be held in place by a concrete block in which I integrated a sound system diffusing an original music score.

During the Nuit Blanche there are literally hundreds of thousands of people strolling in the city and my plan was to have them stop at the canal, sit and fish, chat and listen to the sound of the city.

We presented this project at the Nuit Blanche in Paris in 2009, then in Metz in 2010 where the new Pompidou Center had just opened. It was a remarkable experience and great excitement. We planned to have the installation travel to cities around Europe and Asia - Milano, Venezia, Zurich, Gdansk, Osaka. We presented the project and wan the Golden Prize at the Milano International Lighting Festival 2010. Then unfortunately the installation was vandalized and most of the equipment went lost or damaged. Since then I decided to put it on hold. 

We all know that water is one of the key elements of our planet eco-system, this is not new. My recent exchanges with friends and colleagues made me realize that it's again the moment to raise and take a stand in the debate for the quality of our environment. This is why I decided to bring "J'ai la Pêche" back to life.  

"Gone Fishing..." was added to the original title to give a more meaningful punch-line to the English-speaking audience.

The project is scheduled to show in several cities throughout China in 2020 - from Shanghai to Beijing, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Qingdao - then land at the Till Richter Museum in Buggenhagen, Germany in early 2021 as part of a retrospective exhibition about Nino's work.



the MUSIC for LIGHT/WATER/CITY

For this project, I wanted to have a music which may mingle with the sound of the city. I worked with Gino Dal Soler and Stefano Pilia and we composed the short suite in seven parts which you may listen to on Soundcloud through the link below.

We played acoustic guitars, zither, Tibetan bells and voice. They were recorded on Revox tape, remastered and sampled digitally. 

Enjoy!

the MAKING OF

Each "fishing" set is composed by a fly-fishing rod in blue carbon, a twelve-meter-long electro-luminescent line and a concrete sound blaster (for the curious ones, we are happy to share more about the technical details of this concept). 

We usually place 50 sets along a canal, a river or a lake shore. The electro-luminescent lines dive and fade into the water, in tension. This is done using sinkers.

The sound blasters diffuse the LIGHT//WATER//CITY suite which mingles with the city sounds and people voices. Fishermen cast their lines over the surface of the pulsing water. 

All sound blasters are hand-made in high-performance concrete. The professional speakers and the electronic board deliver a powerful and high-fidelity sound. They are equipped with Bluetooth and standard jack connections so that they can be driven by any smartphone and also connected in series.

the SOUND OF WATER

The City of Paris supported the project by closing the area to motor vehicles and switching off the urban lighting except for the historical lamposts.

This made the whole area - some 500 meters along the canal - as quiet and enjoyable as we may dream of… for one night.