When most of us see tchotchke laying around, we just ignore it, because we’re not weird hoarders. Not artist Aganetha Dyck, though. No, when she sees porcelain figurines that serve little to no purpose, she thinks, “You know what these are missing? Bees.” Now I’ve seen them, and I can’t unsee them, so please share my horror.
Started a full decade ago, the aim of Dyck’s beehive art is to remind people just how intertwined our lives are with the nature that surrounds us, and we’re all part of the same system. Mission accomplished. I will never again spend a waking minute where I don’t feel like there are bees building me into some kind of horrible beehive monster.
There’s a video that gives information on how the process was achieved without damaging the bees or their homes, or you can just look at the abbreviated version:
This GIF comes up surprisingly often.
Here are some of her nightmare creations:
“Arrival”
“Chess”
“Courtier I and II”
“Dragon Slayer II”
For even more nightmare fuel, you can go check out the rest of the collection here and see what it looks like when people become conjoined twins by a head-engulfing beehive. Alternately, you could just go see Dyck’s work in person when her Honeybee Alterations exhibit opens on March 3, 2014, because it is seriously fascinating despite all of the body horror.
(Colossal via io9, images via Michael Gibson Gallery)
- Beehives made of garbage work surprisingly well for urban bees
- Bumblebees are taking over South America, so there’s that
- What’s worse? Bees building a hive on you or maggots in your skull?
