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"She is the mother of the city. She founded it amid uncertainty and poverty. She has peopled it with her own substance; and all who move within its walls—workers, males, larvae, nymphs, and the young princesses whose approaching birth will hasten her own departure, one of them being already designed as her successor by the 'spirit of the hive'—all these have issued from her flanks." - Maurice Maeterlinck, The Life of the Bee The "Spirit of the Hive" refers to the community spirit controlling the overall behavior of the beehive. This term was coined by Maurice Maeterlinck in The Life of the Bee, published in 1901. In this installation, up to ten thousand (depending on the available installation space) tiny two-dimensional bees fill the gallery space. These bees have been photographically reproduced in the black and white darkroom as contact prints from 35 mm film, hand-colored, and cut out individually. The bees are displayed on pins, making them reminiscent of an entomological collection. The queen bee is on display at the center of the installation. Just as the queen bee in a hive is responsible for laying all of the eggs, all of the bees in this installation were created from photographs of the queen bee. This project was funded by a materials grant from the Greater Columbus Arts Council. |
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(exhibited as The Life's Work of 10,000 Bees)
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