This piece explores the complex issues around introduced species through a comparative examination of two bees of the same genus – Megachile rotundata (alfalfa leafcutter bees) and Megachile sculpturalis (giant resin bees). The artwork integrat
Megachile Alienus is the first solo-artist iteration of the Emergent Gallery . The gallery shell was modified through architectural, sculptural, optical, and media interventions to produce a complex artwork in a small-scale and portable space.
Disarticulated M. sculpturalis , Female.
Patrons access the artwork through multiple entry points, which include magnification lenses, peepholes, and dioramas. Through optical bending, the interior space expands to the scale of a massive art gallery, featuring objects, images, and video in
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The artwork was featured in the ACM Creativity & Cognition Conference Exhibition hosted at the Sala del Camino in Venice, Italy. The Sala del Camino is a late 15th-Century Benedictine Monastic complex on the island of Guidecca.
Installation view: Cities of the Future , Creativity & Cognition Exhibition, Sala del Camino, 2022. Curated by Silvia Casini.
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Megachile Alienus is a comparative examination of two introduced bee species that have a complex presence in both Toronto, Canada and Venice, Italy. M. rotundata (left) - alfalfa leafcutter bees - are highly desirable for their ability to pollin
The raw form of the Emergent Gallery was transformed into two chambers - an interior space to house and contain M. sculpturalis and an exterior space to openly display M. rotundata . Modifications were structural, optical, sculptural, and colour
The newly transformed gallery is fitted with four visual access points for the M. sculpturalis display, which included two spotlit magnification lenses for viewing specimens, and two peepholes to access the interior space and video projection with
M. sculpturalis (giant resin bee), Male (left), and Female (right). Photo courtesy of the Packer Lab, Dr. Laurence Packer, York University.
The interior chamber of the gallery features an installation meditating on the social construction of the M. sculpturalis (giant resin bee) as a species of concern. Already large compared to specimens of M. rotundata , male and female sculpturalis
The interior of the gallery is fitted with scientific illustrations, data visualizations, and a video projection grounded by botanical clippings from the pine forest nearby in Venice where giant resin bees can be found. Since sculpturalis is imagi
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A deconstructed female sculpturalis specimen is displayed in the right magnification lens. Its disarticulated form relates to the video installation that is featured in the peepholes.
Collaborators Roberta Buiani (left) and Ilze Briede (right) fit the gallery with media components.
A two-minute looping video projection illuminates the gallery interior. The piece is reminiscent of the 1995 Area 51 alien autopsy video, a celebrated hoax. Here, science and science fiction are combined to upend the stability of truth and fiction a
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The embossed exterior of the Emergent Gallery has been fitted with a 24 carat gold panel as a reference to the history of gilding in Venice, as well the material’s association with bees, honey, and empire.
The second chamber of the gallery is an exposed and illuminated diorama based on an exploration of M. rotundata (alfalfa leafcutter bees). Unlike the giant resin bee, M. rotundata is highly prized for its pollinating abilities and therefore need
M. rotundata (alfalfa leafcutter bee), Male (left), and Female (right). Photo courtesy of the Packer Lab, Dr. Laurence Packer, York University.
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The discovery of M. rotundata’s ability to trigger pollination mechanisms in certain crops has lead to the growing practice of leafcutter bee farming. Research has shown that high contrast mark-making - like script and geometric designs - assist b
The grounds at the Sala del Camino were alight with various pollinators, and included a solitary bee hotel which may provide M. rotundata and M. sculpturalis space to breed on its grounds.
With its capitalist and near-mythological identity in mind, I gilt eight specimens of M. rotundata in 24 carat gold leaf, illuminating the structures of their wings, abdomens, and legs. Each specimen was pinned onto the bee board with an accompany
Based on research suggesting that bees like M. rotundata can navigate based on high-contrast, geometric shapes, the specimen labels have been deconstructed and re-designed to better suit the bee’s ability to distinguish form. The result is a new f
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I would like to thank the following people for their invaluable support of this project: Dr. Laurence Packer (York University), Roberta Buiani (ArtSci Salon, University of Toronto), Ilze Briede (York University), Lorella Di Cintio (University of T
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