Sagax
The Bait Ball
The hydrodynamic logic of a biological mechanism, compressed into a single rotating structural mass.
The Base Panel
A partial configuration — joins edge to edge with further panels
Available
The Full Sphere
The full 133-fish sphere — the rotation held at the height of the frenzy
Placed
Description
Sagax isolates the precise moment 133 individual units compress into a unified defensive sphere. Unlike the directional flow of a running school, the bait ball holds its ground — introducing a concentrated node of kinetic tension into an interior, anchoring a wall through absolute structural density.
The work is engineered as an expandable matrix. Panels join seamlessly edge-to-edge, scaling the geometric rotation to command any architectural plane, from a single panel to a full wall surface. Each unit within the mass is individually hand-formed — no two alike, each holding its own angle in the rotation.
The surface relies on copper and bronze patinas against a deep-water ground, utilizing actual metallic oxidation to capture aquatic light without relying on flat pigment. The mechanism of risk distribution, compressed into structural mass — a kinetic anchor that holds the room.
Specification
- Medium
- Hand-sculpted, hand-cast water-based acrylic resin
- System
- Modular matrix — panels join edge-to-edge
- Finishes
- Verdigris copper & bronze patina on blue-oxidized water ground
- Base Panel
- 900 × 600 × 150 mm (≈ 35 × 24 × 6 in)
- Full Sphere
- 1100 × 600 × 150 mm (≈ 43 × 24 × 6 in) · 133 fish
- Status
- Base panel available · Full sphere placed
Process — The Modular System
Each sardine hand-sculpted in clay — no two alike, each holding its own angle.
Silicone negatives taken; cast in water-based acrylic resin.
Copper and bronze patina worked onto the fish.
Blue patina water ground — the blue-green light of the depths.
Fish set as a single turning body; panel rigged for edge-to-edge joining.
Full process documentation is maintained in the studio archive.
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
The Sardine School
The companion study — the running school as a single silver shadow, where the bait ball is the school collapsed into a sphere.
View the work →The base panel is currently available for acquisition. The system is conceived so that panels join edge to edge to fill any space — a commission’s size and configuration determined by your wall.
Acquisition Enquiries