BEE TOTEM

“The honey bee, recently declared the most important species on the Earth, is the poster-child for the climate crisis and concurrent mass extinction. The health of global bee populations is inextricably linked to the healthy functioning of all land based ecosystems on our planet. They hold everything together. Their plight as a species in decline has become iconic of this critical moment in our relationship with the planet. Bee Totem asks us to consider a world where the honey bee is gone and all we have is a glittering totem, built with their remains.

Will bees only be considered sacred through the lense of nostalgia? What will be the purpose of our remorse when they are already gone?”

Sound design : Caleb Jacobs Light Projection: Nema Adel Film: Adam Scarf

Bee Totem is currently being built. Details on exhibition TBC.

This work is made possible with funding support from the Inner West Council.

No bees are harmed in this process. They are collected post mortum from local beekeepers.

Photography and film by Leo Harunah @visualsbyrazak, with funding support from Create NSW.

Resin Sponsorship: Illawarra Coatings

EXIT

photography by Leo Harunah @visualsbyrazak

EXIT is a silent swarm that hovers in mid air, forming a glittering tunnel; a portal; a path. It asks us to pause and consider our current direction. Is this the path we would like to take? Where might it lead us?

EXIT implores audiences to hear the cries of a land in distress. Hundreds of honey bees (collected post mortem from local beekeepers) are immortalised and magnified in a frozen moment after death. Every hair, every delicate, veined wing is magnified. Each orb is a memorial, a silent eulogy for the hard working honey bee.

Alone, the orbs inspire appreciation of the honey bee. En masse, they amplify the immensity of the species’ crisis. 750 orbs, each crafted carefully with one pair of human hands over several months, subvert the capitalist ideals of efficiency and unencumbered growth that have led us to disconnect from the natural systems that support our existence.