FISH

"FISH" is a performative film reconfiguring human relationships with fin fish by way of eliciting a human behavioral and emotional responses via the human body. Where pain and experience are felt, heard, and seen, four distinctive events ("TANK", "MAN", "HOOK", and "ICE”) challenge the way we perceive other species and our own by subjecting ourselves to human-induced pain.

Exploring anthropomorphic empathy, "FISH" lives neither within a speculative space nor a functional product lineup, forever in limbo where society recognizes that fish pain, sentience, and experience *are* real, but are neglected in reality. Where silent pain, due to the inability to vocalize experience (typical of cow and pig screeches for instance) alongside commodified fishing practices, highlights the domination of exercises constant power and greed onto fin fish.

During the Cambrian Explosion (538.8 million years ago), organisms exhibited new behaviors of crawling, swimming, and hunting complimented by symmetrical designs, nervous systems, and muscles - features that define our human species to this day. It was at this point that the seeds of consciousness were planted in the animal body. Why must we cognitively neglect finfish pain, experience, and sentience from species in which we inherited consciousness?

"FISH" reconfigures human relationships with fin fish by way of eliciting a human behavioral and emotional response through a human subject. Where pain and experience are felt, heard, and seen, four distinctive events ("TANK", "MAN", "HOOK", and "ICE) challenge the way we perceive other species and our own by subjecting a human to fish pain and experiences. A dream of harmonious human connections within our species, as well as others, is a testament to the friction between ego-centered and eco-centered design. Group Commentary: As much of the research intends to reconfigure the connection between humans and finfish, we believe "FISH" highlights our interworkings as a human species. Where the inability to vocalize experience limits the moral and emotional attachment to finfish, we as humans have little excuse for our ability to understand and connect with ourselves. As the gruesome treatment of fish is felt, the audience is forced to question the dominance of man in society, politically, socially, and economically. Where class, culture, or skin color alienates the likes of fellow humans, we are no strangers to grander, systemic issues that highlight the nature of the modern human. Suddenly, an abstract approach to understanding the experience of another species leaves the audience pondering on the connections between our own.