Not strictly to do with the Test, Mottisfont or F.M Halford, but I came across this in my research. I have always thought of casting – the whisking, flipping and laying of the line on the water – as a form of aerial calligraphy, and this sketch captures that idea beautifully. [From the logbook of F.W. Benson, 1936]
The idea of Otter
I’ve been looking into the River Test (quite literally), well stocked with trout, thinking about how it will be impacted by climate change. I then went up to the cafe at Mottisfont and I came across this poster on the walls there. Dating from 1931, it caught my eye as it seemed to encapsulate so much about our paradoxical attitude to nature. It’s a great example of how we appropriate the idea of ‘Nature’ to promote, well, anything really, at the expense of Nature itself; here, the desire to drive out into the countryside at the weekends to be refreshed by some natural scene or other. Little did we suspect at the time, but those fossil fuels had a sting in their exhaust. So, I went to asked Neil, the river keeper, whether there were infact any otters on the Test. He responded by showing me some otter tracks on the Rectory Beat. So at least that part of the poster is real! [Poster courtesy of the Shell Heritage Art Collection.]
The Novice
A virtual dry-fly for a virtual trout. I have been experimenting in VR using Tiltbrush to tie my first fly, or at least my impression of a fly. Then I took at look at some videos by the expert Davie McPhail (as recommenced by the river keeper), only to realise just how many mistakes I have made – starting with the hook being the wrong way round! Room for improvement… [Thank you Marie for all your help, and to the Corsham Institute for your support with the VR.]
Virtual Test
Imagine one of the pillars in the cellurium at Mottisfont, with the vaulted ceiling emanating from the top; then imagine the room flooded with water from the Test, the surface reaching half way up the pillars; and finally, imagine a dry-fly hovering just above the surface. Well, that is what you have here, my first foray into drawing in virtual reality (VR). I am exploring VR to see if I might use it for Surface Tensions. I just have a hunch that this might be the right medium for this project. We will see!
In search of Detached Badger
For those of you not familiar with the history of dry-fly fishing (me included until quite recently), or the provenance of the Oakley Beat at Mottisfont, the key figure in this very English drama is F.M. Halford (1844–1914). This photo of him was taken not long before he died. During his life he wrote many books on the subject and articles for ‘The Field’ magazine under the pen name of Detached Badger [Ed: why? SR: still to find out.]
Surface lexicon
This laser scan of the sea surface off the Isle of Portland came to mind as Neil, the river keeper, was pointing out how the ripples and swellings on the surface of the Test can reveal what’s happening beneath. Variations in flow and depth are exploited by the fish; slow eddies as resting places, fast flows to bring food downstream. Just as the fish play these currents to their advantage, so the angler reads the surface signs to reveal the fish’s likely location. Well, my next task is to understand this fluid lexicon for myself. [This laser scan of The Race off Portland was part of A Natural History of Pseudomorphs.]
Back to where I started
Just as fish caught in the river would have been brought to the house and stored in the cellar, so it is with my work from this residency. It will be shown in the Cellarium at Mottisfont. Full circle for me, as my first installation was in another vaulted space, the crypt at Gloucester cathedral.
