HOOK, LINE AND SINKER
Click on each detail image below for enlargement and description.
Click on each detail image below for enlargement and description.
Ann as fisherman, age 9.
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Hook, Line and Sinker - Exhibitiion View
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Hook, Line and Sinker - Mesa Contemporary, Mesa Arts Center - February thru June 2026
Hook, line and sinker - a phrase commonly understood as, “to be completely fooled or to believe something without question”, is worth contemplation in today’s world of spin, trolling, and alternative truths. While the phrase originated in the mid-1800’s, as recently as August of 2025 in his opinion column on AZCentral titled “Facebook AI slop is a dangerous symptom of Trump’s war on truth”, Bill Goodykoontz notes when speaking of pictures and posts on social media, . . .“They are obviously fake. They are obviously stupid. . . But others obviously buy into it, hook, line and sinker.”1
Of course the metaphor, we know from the sport of fishing, refers to the poor fish that strikes so hard and completely at the bait, that it swallows the hook, and the line leading to and including, the sinker. In my memories of being a young fisherman, this was not so good, for it surely meant the certain death of the fish because the hook was nearly impossible to extract without causing a fish fatality. In the context of this examination, we must ask, what hook have we swallowed unquestionably that may be difficult, if not harmful, to extract or retract?
Inspired by a curious mix of childhood fishing memories and social commentary, the work created for this show uses the materiality of fishing line, hooks and sinkers, combined with assorted detritus employed in hand weavings and lure-like assemblages. The graphics of nautical warning flags and these imaginary fishing lures are metaphorical nods to the lures and navigational challenges we all experience in today’s culture.
Some may feel the whimsy in this work, but make no mistake. The humor imbued in these objects is my personal act of resistance to maintain a measure of sanity against the madness in the current geo-political landscape.
But alas, in the end, any fun must give way to this: no matter what our social ideology or political color, we must ask ourselves, what have we been willing to swallow “hook, line, and sinker”?
1 Goodykoontz, Bill (2025 August 20). Facebook AI slop is a dangerous symptom of Trump's war on truth | Opinion. AZCentral. com.https://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/media/2025/08/20/trump-facebook-ai-slop/85724417007/
Exhibition Link at Mesa Contemporary
Hook, line and sinker - a phrase commonly understood as, “to be completely fooled or to believe something without question”, is worth contemplation in today’s world of spin, trolling, and alternative truths. While the phrase originated in the mid-1800’s, as recently as August of 2025 in his opinion column on AZCentral titled “Facebook AI slop is a dangerous symptom of Trump’s war on truth”, Bill Goodykoontz notes when speaking of pictures and posts on social media, . . .“They are obviously fake. They are obviously stupid. . . But others obviously buy into it, hook, line and sinker.”1
Of course the metaphor, we know from the sport of fishing, refers to the poor fish that strikes so hard and completely at the bait, that it swallows the hook, and the line leading to and including, the sinker. In my memories of being a young fisherman, this was not so good, for it surely meant the certain death of the fish because the hook was nearly impossible to extract without causing a fish fatality. In the context of this examination, we must ask, what hook have we swallowed unquestionably that may be difficult, if not harmful, to extract or retract?
Inspired by a curious mix of childhood fishing memories and social commentary, the work created for this show uses the materiality of fishing line, hooks and sinkers, combined with assorted detritus employed in hand weavings and lure-like assemblages. The graphics of nautical warning flags and these imaginary fishing lures are metaphorical nods to the lures and navigational challenges we all experience in today’s culture.
Some may feel the whimsy in this work, but make no mistake. The humor imbued in these objects is my personal act of resistance to maintain a measure of sanity against the madness in the current geo-political landscape.
But alas, in the end, any fun must give way to this: no matter what our social ideology or political color, we must ask ourselves, what have we been willing to swallow “hook, line, and sinker”?
1 Goodykoontz, Bill (2025 August 20). Facebook AI slop is a dangerous symptom of Trump's war on truth | Opinion. AZCentral. com.https://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/media/2025/08/20/trump-facebook-ai-slop/85724417007/
Exhibition Link at Mesa Contemporary