Resonating Bodies
June 2011
I have a strong conviction that, in order to begin to perceive the connections between our actions and their consequences in the larger context, we must cultivate our mental image of biodiversity. Through my field work, I've come to believe that all of our senses inform our understanding of the world around us, and that we need to employ all of them as much as possible in order to effectively create a mental image of biodiversity.
Bumble Domicile is an integrated media installation focusing on the lives of Bombus (bumble bees), social bees native to North America. The installation weaves observation of an on-site bumble bee colony, containing live video and audio of its internal activity, with the hive’s outdoor pollen collecting activity; real-time ultraviolet video of flowering plants in the building’s communal garden adjacent to the gallery; audio transformations of bees; an electroformed bumble bee hive; and, trading cards of our (Toronto) local social and solitary wild bees.
I'm currently creating vessels which allow one to intimately watch and listen to the many varieties of solitary, wild bees which live in old beetle bores in wood and in pithy stems. These native bees are quite different than honey bees (which were imported from Europe and are not native to North America); solitary wood-nesting bees account for nearly 30 per cent of all bees globally, while solitary ground nesters account for nearly 70 per cent of all bees. The dynamics of pollination ecology — a cornerstone of the biosphere as well as our food security — can be more easily perceived and understood through extending our senses, especially when sound is paired with visual observation. The Audio Bee Booth and Deluxe Log are the first in a series of amplified habitat installations that I have created as part of Resonating Bodies, a series of collaborative projects by artists, technicians and scientists I initiated in 2008.
Pollination Wunder Station,
an audio bee booth for native bees and wasps,
as shown at Items may Shift, an exhibit at the Tree Museum,
(Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada, 2011)
Click here to see a YouTube video on the Audio Bee Booth
Deluxe Log (2010)
"As the 20th century nears its close, most North Americans lack any mental image for this ‘biological diversity’ that scientists deem so important ... It [a pollination crisis] is not merely an issue for rainforest activists, vegetarians or beekeepers. It is an issue that can help us find common ground between farmer and forest ecologist, between beekeeper and Mayan shaman, between organic gardener, pest control operator, and bat conservationist ... We will need tales, fragrances, tastes and images that inform us about how the world works and what is at stake if we simply ignore the needs of pollinators and the habitats where they make a living."
— Stephen L. Buchmann and Gary Paul Nabhan, The Forgotten Pollinators (Island Press, 1996)."
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Resonating Bodies is a series of integrated media installations and community outreach projects that focuses on biodiversity of pollinators indigenous to the natural and urban ecosystems of the Greater Toronto Area.
SITES
EMF :: Arts Electric :: EMF Productions :: Ear to the Earth :: CDeMusic :: EMF Media :: EMF Institute