Shoal Thing

There are many places around buildings that are easy to overlook and walk by. They tend to be spaces that aren’t all that social, often linking those that are. I started exploring these spaces to see what goes on in them and found a rather strange inhabitant that I missed all those times I’d simply passed by. Those odd sounds that are sometimes heard around the place or that occasional glint of light that almost catches your eye may, it turns out, be caused by a Shoal Thing. Not much is known about Shoal Things or where they come from, however they can occasionally be found lurking in these obscure places around buildings. There’s usually a drain on the electricity supply wherever they happen to be and it is thought that this is what attracts them. They have come to be regarded as pests for this reason by those building officials who are aware of them, which may go some way towards explaining their wariness of people and their habit of moving around overlooked spaces, never staying in one place too long.

My final year project involved learning more about Shoal Things and trying, in some way, to build relationships with them. As people with pets are no doubt aware, snacks and treats can be very helpful and to this end I found getting electricity to odd places around the campus worked wonders. After some tempting, a Shoal Thing seems to have settled somewhere out of reach but in sight and will hopefully stay around for the graduation exhibition. Once you’ve seen one Shoal Thing they get easier to spot and you might start to see more of them in those murky spaces that are usually passed by.