Bees Can’t See Red
Kaspar Haake/2022-2023

Bees Can’t See Red, BA Thesis ︎︎︎
Professional photography by Allison Woods ︎︎︎
Matter Message, NWU Research Symposium ︎︎︎

Unseen contaminants saturate the American midwest. 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 holding bee bodies 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. Building on collected byproducts of my personal pollinators, reflecting the graded values of the water test chart used in testing the tank water of my pet axolotl, an ephemeral sensory experience is created with media that dematerializes boundaries, posing questions about sustainability of our modern industrial practices through the instability of insect and aquatic ecosystems.

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