Insects among Us looks at cultural practices that emerge from encounters between humans and insects. Drawing from methods of insect observation and the history of entomology, our project considers conditions of visibility from an ontological perspective. The fragility of our shared lifeworld becomes manifest through visual and audio installations based on techniques derived from the study of insects.

The project resulted in a series of works entitled Entomological Encounters. The former convent of SS. Cosmas and Damian housed small-scale site-specific installations that addressed the eerie lifeworlds of insects.The indoor and outdoor spaces around the Sala del Camino were transformed into an insect observatory that highlighted empathic looking and listening.

The actuality of the project relies on the fact that the number of insects is drastically decreasing. Insects are vanishing. Entomologists call it the windshield phenomenon. In a growing number of studies scientists have tracked alarming declines in domesticated honey bees, monarch butterflies, and lightning bugs. Between 1989 and 2016, according to a report published in the journal PLOS One, the biomass of flying insects captured in Germany decreased by a seasonal average of 76 percent. Wild insects are elementary parts of a functioning ecosystem: the insects bury animal dung, prey on pests and pollinate plants.

We believe that artistic research proceeds in two conceptually interconnected ways: through experiential artworks and reflective writing. The works are at the core of the research. Discursive elements informed by the practice will include a paper Epistemic Bugs at Worldmaking as a separate RC-exposition.

Authors:
Tuula Närhinen (Visual artist, DFA) UNIARTS, Helsinki in collaboration with Tytti Arola (sound artist, composer) AALTO University, Espoo

Traces from the Anthropocene:

INSECTS AMONG US

"The last door to open is the worm's mouth"

_{Alfred J. Tanner}