Cube Info
- Fins
- Reflection
- Scales
- Habitat
- Changing Colours
- Birth
- Bones
- Wellies
- Message in a Bottle
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Journey. A cube inspired by the facinating adventure of the salmon
After hatching and a few months in the river, salmon migrate to the ocean and return after three to four years to spawn and die.
‘Journey’ is constructed from sheets of corten steel, punctured with a map
of the salmon's journey from the source at Kielder to the sea at Tynemouth.
Once at sea the Tyne Salmon go on a dramatic journey to Greenland
encountering many challenges before returning to their exact place of birth.
Corten is an interesting material originally invented during the Victorian Era for ship building. It is a copper steel alloy and naturally oxidizing product that provides the appearance of rust. Oxidising will starts as soon as the corten cube is exposed to the elements, the cube will change over the year from its steel appearance to rich browns and orange typically found in rust, this will continue to happen until the patina evens out and the effect becomes more permanent.
Salmon navigation is one of the marvels of nature. While the
full answer is not yet clear, a number of mechanisms may guide salmon at sea.
These include guidance by the stars as well as use of receptors sensitive to
local differences in the earth's magnetic field.
Ocean currents may also play an important role. Near the
coast and in the rivers, salmon are guided by a chemical memory which
apparently allows them to recognise and home to substances, including
pheromones, present in the water in very minute traces.
