Revenge of the Goldfish (photograph)

Like many of her other works, such as Radioactive Cats and Fox Games, the piece is a set composed of props and human models, which Skoglund poses and then photographs.

The set of the scene is a monochromatic blue, with contrasting bright orange goldfish floating through the room.

[1] According to Skoglund, "If the fish are eliminated the image shows nothing unusual; just a room with two people in bed.”[2] The piece was first on display at the Saint Louis Art Museum in 1981.

[9] She visualizes the photograph after she has begun arranging the props so as not to “paralyze the process.”[10] Skoglund believes that photography, combined with the installation, implies “...a realistic component and another, unreal one that, intruding on reality, interferes with it.”[2] In photographing Revenge of the Goldfish, Skoglund chooses an angle that makes the models’ identities ambiguous to the viewer.

[12] In Revenge of the Goldfish, “[Skoglund] draws liberally from the conventions of science fiction and horror films, and the display techniques of natural history museums and store windows.”[13]