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Wednesday 17 July 2013

Medusan Infusion


I recently saw a film starring Will Smith, he was on some kind of mission, possibly redemptive. It was an unremittingly sententious spectacle, but worth watching because of the jellyfish that fascinated our hero;



W. Smith is not alone in having jellyfish in a jar.

  
My jellyfish are made of rubber, they're aquarium decorations I bought in a pet shop. My initial idea was to have them in my fish tank -


    - but the flourescent lights highlighted the fishing line that anchored the bouyant jellyfish; the line isn't so apparent in their present setting.


The body of the specimen jar is a vase bought in IKEA. The base is made up of a couple of ash trays. An inverted biscuit tin forms the lid whose glass apex is the top from a candy jar. The lid and base are sprayed black. The jellyfish are tethered to lumps of lava and Salvinia natans floats on the surface. I'm hoping that the water will be turned green by the sunlight and give the display an ethereal feel as well as hiding the fishing line.


In the days since I wrote that last sentence (so laden with a prescience born of vast experience and astute observation) the water has stayed clear as that of a mountain stream and the jellyfish have turned green;  


Mmm...