RADAR REFLECTOR, #1 & #2, 1998
Despite today’s advanced technology of satellite relay positioning (LORAN), radar, first developed in World War II, continues to be a viable locate medium for commercial fishing, navigation world-wide. The radar reflector is a simple diamond-shaped device that is attached to the highest point of a boat’s rigging, or simply held aloft a pole. It is often hand-made, marked with coloration that has remained as identifying symbols for particular families down through generations.
The reflector allows a boat to be detected by radar in high
seas, day or night, when other means of surface locating
would prove impossible. It often is the most crucial meganism
in extreme circumstances.
HOME/AWAY are universal colloquialisms spoken in reference
to one’s location in port or at sea, and in conversation are
metaphoric extensions for the often dysfunctional quality of
home and family life in fishing cultures.
RADAR REFLECTOR
#1 & #2,
1998
acrylic and wood filler on paper
30” x 22” each
Private collection
