PHOTO BY DOUG RHODEHAMEL
Orlando artist Doug Rhodehamel (Website) has spent the better part of a year cutting fish out of discarded cardboard. Hundreds of them- hand-cut, painted, and hung from the ceiling of Stardust Video & Coffee on East Winter Park Road. They make up the Dave Plotkin Memorial Aquarium, a permanent installation dedicated to one of Rhodehamel’s best friends and a local notable, who died last year.
Rhodehamel, who calls the material “discardboard,” gave each fish a shiny reflective eye. The effect, he says, is something like a disco ball that sends light bouncing off hundreds of tiny mirrors suspended overhead.
“Dave was wonderful and crazy great at everything he did,” Rhodehamel said. “The display has been a great deal of work, keeping me up very late at night. My hands hurt from cutting out fish, but it’s been a cathartic way of dealing with the grief. Dave loved my creations, especially my fish. I think he would have really liked this. I miss him a lot.”
The installation will grow over time. Rhodehamel plans to keep adding fish throughout the year. The official unveiling was this past Sunday, March 22.
