Oh, man… this is gorgeous. Giant honeybees (apis dorsata) doing “the wave” in a spiral formation. The behavior is called “shimmering” and the bees use it to defend their colony against hornet attacks.
Here’s the article with links to more video. Thanks to my dear friend, Abby Wright, for the heads up.
Is this art? I think so. The first time I saw this piece I had no idea what I was looking at. (Thought I’d stumbled on some kind of post-apocalyptic, puppet inspired, two-person modern dance bit.) When I finally clued in that I was looking at a prototype of military robot it sent a chill up my spine.
Good art, when it’s perplexing or threatening, gives me that same feeling.
Here’s something gripping. It’s an NPR story about an Australia based art collective called SymbioticA. They make art from living tissue. The image above is a replica of a human ear made out of human skin cells. Wow and gross and how’d they do that? I’m repulsed and intrigued.
Is this ethical? I don’t know. Lots of questions though… What value does a cell have when separated from its parent organism? Is a cell an individual being? Does a cell have feelings? Can it feel pain? Do we have the right to boss cells around this way? Or are we simply guiding them toward a new way of being?
Here’s something interesting. A tidbit about bee lore from the Museum of Jurassic Technology. My dear friend Abby describes it as “an art installation disguised as a museum.” That sounds just right to me.
Thank you, Abby, for pointing the way. I’m exploring the site bit by bit. Museum bookstores are a blast and this one’s no exception. I’ve got my eye on “The Carnivorous Syndrome in 3D” among other things…
