On the complexity of simple living

The Fishmonger is both a granite sculpture and alive as well. The sculpture was erected at Gammel Strand in 1940, some few years before the local fish market was moved to more modern premisses. The breathing fishmonger woman still sells the catch-of-the-day from her same humble, makeshift flexible waterfront stand next to the sculpture, to loyal, older customers. Tourists mostly glean and take snapshots of this incongruous character from bygone times. Her unassuming, yet powerful and empathic presence, will soon be gone, as she is the last of her breed to practice the art of living a simple life amidst the urban languish along Copenhagen's central canal.

As the granite sculpture most likely will survive this century, Sam Renseiw captured instead a fleeting moment of the activities around the fishmonger's storefront - while the further architectural translations are to be discussed. View the sequence by clicking here, or buy a smoked eel at the icon above. (patafilm # 185, 01'12'', 4.8 MB, quicktime/mov.)