No Visible Land
Jenny Brownrigg and Leona Johnson
24 June - 29 July 2000

No Visible Land was an exhibition by Jenny Brownrigg and Leona Johnson, which focused on how different geographical locations are interpreted.

Brownrigg’s work was an examination of how we see nature and landscape, aiming to identify the gaps between our ideals about nature versus the reality of that nature. Johnson’s work contrasted rural craft with the fish farming industry and highlights the differences between tradition and contemporary life in rural areas.

Johnson is an artist and research student at The Centre for Research in Art and Design, The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen. She is based in Shetland.

To feed the salmon you have to work from your boat, chucking salmon pellets in the cage by hand if the salmon are small. When the salmon are bigger they are blow-fed, salmon pellets rushing from what looks like an industrial sized vacuum cleaner hose. You usually work in pairs; feeding one cage at a time at the site and by the end of the day you will have thrown over a thousand pounds worth of salmon pellets into each cage. You have to feed two to three times a day, depending on the number and size of the fish, though in winter this is cut down to a single feed when the days are at their shortest. The fish are reared from smolts until they reach an average weight of five kilos, then they are killed, perhaps 50 tons or around 10,000 fish in twelve hours. The cages lie empty till the next smolts come and then the whole business starts again.

Salmon farming in Shetland is a multi-million pound industry, involving international companies and a large number of workers. Last year salmon produced in Shetland was worth over £71,000,000. The salmon industry has overtaken all of Shetland's traditional industries in terms of employment and value. Despite the size of the industry and the huge amounts of money involved, for the largest part of each working day, a salmon worker is alone but for one other worker and up to half a million fish.

Supported by the Scottish Arts Council, Shetland Arts Trust and Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen.

No Visible Land, 2000