Suspension solutions

When designing my large installation, Autoboatography, a major challenge was finding a solution for keeping the boats suspended on mono-filament. Without a stopper, the boats would sink down the slick plastic line and I wanted the stopper to have minimal visual impact. Fishermen use little balls of lead as weights on their mono-filament lines to keep their lines taut in the water. Could this technique be applied in my art piece and would they hold up all the boats over 2 months? They seemed so delicate and their grip is very tender. Each lead ball has a little slit for the line to slip into. Using pliers, you mash the lead flat so it sticks on the line. It took Leo and I a lot of time to get each and every ball in place and secured. And they did not add much weight to the installation. The metal sinkers references 2 elements. Made of earth materials they are formed by heat and fire.
I found a beautiful example of suspension in Neiman Marcus windows on Geary this week. Hundreds of wire and paper butterflies hung on mono-filament in long rows. Tiny mirrors were glued in-between each butterfly. The mirrors must have been very thin for when two of them were glued together they appeared as double sided. I loved the reflective quality that they added.

Boats locked in place with 2 lead sinkers

Butterflies and mirrors suspended at Neiman Marcus window display