Monday, February 13, 2012

Bio-Art: Hawaiian Gyotaku.

What would you do if you caught a creature from the deep, dark abyss? Recoiling in horror would probably be your first reaction. After that, chances are you would either toss it back or take it to a local aquarium to see how it got to the surface. Whatever your response happens to be, we're pretty sure "getting it inked and putting it on a T-shirt" was not on your list of priorities.



In December of last year, one Travis Toyama was casually fishing in one of Hawaii's many tide pools when he prepared to receive the weirdest bite he would ever get. No, it was not from a bearsharktopus. He had caught a slender-horned armored gurnard, an eel-like fish that looks bizarre as all get-out. (There are prettier gurnards out there.)

Instead of tossing the fish back or making it into sushi (Hawaii has SPAM sushi- I put nothing past them), Travis made a surprisingly well-thought move and took his catch to a gyotaku - a fish house.  The internationally-renowned artist had the gurnard inked and put on a T-shirt.

That's not all he did, though. The inked fish was also preserved on a canvas, which Travis intends to hang in his room. He also wants to get the fish to a taxidermist so that he can have a mount of it. That is one hardcore fisher. May he win at whatever championships fishing has.

His reasoning? He wanted to remember it long after its spiny remains decayed. Damn.

Whatever's in the water in Hawaii, I want some. That is one competent kid. He should try out for being a Chinese sage; if all kids thought at his level, they would actually be tolerable.

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