The second series of
photographs in the
Wurlitzer Trilogy by
Arthur Tress. The Fishtank
Sonata deals with the effect of
humans and
society on their
environment. Like the
Teapot Opera, it is an
allegory of sorts. All the photographs are set in a cast-iron
fish tank in a variety of locations, using the same types of
ceramic figurines and miscellaneous objects found in the
previous chapter.
The basic story concerns an unsuccessful fisherman who one day meets a magic fish who takes him on a strange journey to the bottom of the sea. The captions for the Fishtank Sonata are written as pieces of verse, and the entire story has a meditative air to it, contrasting with the bright simplicity of the Teapot Opera.
Of the three series, I found this one the most difficult to understand, as there is a lot going on in each of the photographs. It is difficult to describe the effect created by the range of figurines and models used for the photos (a lot of them seem to be from the 1950s or even earlier); I remember feeling overwhelmed by the imagery and amazed at the diversity of all the objects Tress managed to pack into a single shot.