Bees Can’t See Red
Kaspar Haake/2022-2023Agrochemicals saturate the American midwest, as explored in the instability of insect and aquatic ecosystems. Explained through my personal experiences, and in light of the local environmental crisis of the AltEn ethanol disaster in Mead, Nebraska, I aestheticize the troubling unseen consequences of agrochemical exploitation through a lens of frozen bees and an alien aquatic salamander. A looming, fragrant wall of of frames from lost colonies of winter ’22 reflects a graded grid of molten wax, countered by mottled, chemically-collected cyanotype, abstractions reflecting abritrary lines of measure and containment. By building bee bodies and collected byproducts of my personal pollinators, an ephemeral sensory experience is created with meaningful media that dematerializes boundaries, posing questions on who benefits from environmental policy and the sustainability of modern industrial practices for our environment.
Professional photography by Allison Woods
