Christopher Marley Bugs
Christoper Marley was on CBS Sunday Morning today talking about his bug specimens. His work consists of beautifully spread and framed specimens which are culled from rainforests. Apparently he has his own relationship with collectors who are constantly on the lookout for beautiful specimens. I particularly like his photographs of beetles which are compositions many different specimens — the diversity of form and color really highlights how absurd it is that these things are real.
It was nice that he made mention of something I frequently worry about — killing the bugs:
“The only way you can damage or really adversely affect an insect population is by destroying its habitat or destroying its host plant,” Marley said. “What we do is we go in and we cull a very few specimens. And that gives an economic incentive to people to preserve their habitat. They’re making a living off of the standing rainforest, instead of having to develop it to make a living. And so, you’re actually preserving the species.”
He writes more extensively about it here: http://www.formandpheromone.com/public_html/environmentaleffects.htm It’s a valid argument to be sure. But I’m still getting increasingly weirded out that my art involves killing something. I’ll get back to you about that….
Anyhow, here’s a photo of Marley’s work. If you google him it won’t be hard to find more — he’s everywhere. And while we do very different things, at the heart of both of them I think there is a shared awe of insects and we are both just trying to get people to take a closer look.
Monsters take New Orleans
If you find yourself near New Orleans in January, I’ll be showing a bug monster/blue crystal piece at Barrister’s Gallery:
I Wish I Was Dead Biennial:
Works by Unsettled and Unsettling Natures
Curated by Martina Batan
(The Ronald Feldman Fine Arts Gallery, NYC)
January 9 thru February 6
Opening Saturday, January 9th 6-9 pm
Psychic Neighbor!!!
Joe and I are having a show at Ramiken Crucible, hope you can come! You can see Joe’s work at www.joebrittain.com. Download the press release here.
Prettiest ants ever.
The New York Times published a story yesterday about Anna Dornaus’ work with social insects, specifically the Temnos ant. In order to follow each individual of the colony, she anesthetized each ant for long enough to paint each one of them with a unique pattern of dots. Alex Wild took the most beautiful photo of the most beautiful ants.
The painted ants are just the beginning — I think both Dornhaus and Wild are definitely worth a longer look. Here are their links, just in case they aren’t working in the above text:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/28/science/28prof.html?emc=eta1
Death by fungus
I’ve been incorporating crystals into the bug monsters. Here’s a snapshot of one, there will be more photos coming soon.
The growth of the crystals on the bugs reminds me of something I’ve seen before: fungal infections which kill insects. Apparently the fungal spores get into the insect’s brain and take control over their brains; the fungus causes them to stop everything to perform one last action — climb up a branch and take a bite to affix themselves, for instance. The fungus then begins to grow using the insect as a host. As morbid as this is, the results are really quite beautiful in some cases. What I also find fascinating is the symbiotic and species-specific relationship between a particular insect and fungus. This means the shape of the fungus is always informed by the same insect. Some photos below, stolen from the Neurophilosophy blog. Link to full post is below photos.
http://neurophilosophy.wordpress.com/2006/11/20/brainwashed-by-a-parasite/
More to come…
In the process of getting the blog up and running. Intend to use it as a place to show what’s in process in the studio, interesting research, or even failed attempts.
In the meantime…a crystals-in-the-works photo. I’ve been experimenting with bringing the natural back into the bug monsters. Interesting in how the crystals require giving up control of a process that is so detail-oriented otherwise. I also like thinking of the crystals in terms of an infection with a life of its own.
