Ghost Shark
Column Sculpture · Architectural Relief
14 mm laid nylon topline, diverted from Cape Town harbours and bound into the anatomical form of a shark mid-breach. A material transition mapping the hydrodynamics of the cruising form.
Description
Ghost Shark is formed from 14 mm laid nylon topline — standardised gear diverted from Cape Town harbours before it reached landfill or the sea.
The salt-faded grey of the working line is kept whole and uncorrected, preserving the physical record of its maritime use. Bound by hand over an armature built in A1 (Acrylic One), the rope maps the anatomical structure of the shark in a cruising posture, translating the material weight of the standardised tool into a vertical column relief.
The shark, apex predator of the water column, was historically hunted for liver oil, fins, and cartilage. Binding the standardised tool of the fishing industry into this shape turns the mechanism of extraction into the anatomy of the extracted.
Engineered for freestanding or wall-mounted placement. The 1.2-metre vertical profile requires structural columns or narrow vertical planes, interacting with the surrounding volume through its physical depth (240 mm) and the cast shadow it produces under directional light.
Specification
- Medium
- 14 mm laid nylon topline
- Framework
- A1 (Acrylic One) mineral-acrylic composite armature, hand-built
- Format
- Column sculpture / architectural relief, freestanding or wall-mounted
- Scale
- 1200 × 200 × 240 mm (≈ 47 × 8 × 9 in)
- Status
- Available for acquisition
Process — Transmutation
Diverting 14 mm laid nylon topline from Cape Town harbour waste streams.
Power-washing each length to remove salt, grime, and working-life residue.
Sun-dried until stable. The salt-faded grey is kept, uncorrected.
Hand-building the A1 (Acrylic One) armature to carry the anatomical load.
Laying and binding the topline strand by strand around the armature, following the anatomical load of the cruising form.
Studies — Exhibition & Form
Provenance
- Artist
- Ché Hough (Cape Town)
- Studio
- Cape Cache, Pearly Beach, Western Cape
- Field research
- 139,500 nautical miles at sea
- Execution
- 2025 — Pearly Beach Studio
- Authentication
- Certificate of Authenticity issued by Cape Cache
Related in This Typology
Ghost Tide
Cold-cast aluminium dolphin in ghost netting — the precursor that documented the threshold moment.
View the work →
Ghost Tales
Mixed flotsam fibres gathered from the beaches between Pearly Beach and Walker Bay. The same transmutation, following the logic of circulation.
View the work →
Ghost Whale — The Repurposed Line
14 mm laid nylon topline diverted from Cape Town harbours — the standardised tool of extraction.
View the work →Ghost Shark is available for immediate acquisition. Future works continue the transmutation of industrial fishing textiles into new spatial anchors for the collection — trade documentation via the Architectural Specification Index.
Acquisition Enquiries