Lifeforce Wormery
2010
Gold Guilded Pyramid \\ Red Tiger Worms \\ Biodynamic Apples \\ Conventional Apples \\ Soil \\ Newspaper
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Roof Top Discovery
2010
Ben on Roof
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Rough Luxe Hives
2009
Comissioned by Rough Luxe Hotel \\ Kings Cross, London \\ Sculpture \\ Installation \\ Bees \\ Russian Red Wood \\ Aluminium
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Regression Studies
2009
Gold on Paper
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Beekeeping \\ Reconsidered
2009
Custom Designed Bee Hive \\ Sculpture \\ Installation \\
60,000 Bees \\ Mint \\ Alterative Practices
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Communing Through Costuming
2009
Series of Events \\ Costume Design \\ Alternative Practices
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As monoculture fields are transforming the country landscape, bees are finding it essential to move to the much more biodiverse urban spaces. Similarly, as more people are moving to cities we are faced with a lack of housing and infrastructure, often ending in the development of slums. These areas, however, are buzzing with life. People are developing alternative methods of survival, creating new services and means of trade. The Rough Luxe Hives are created for the displaced urban bees. I have given them a home that allows for them to go about their daily lives in a very natural bee-efficient method. While the bees are my main concern, I designed the hives to also speak to the human population. Inspired by images of slums, I created hives that refer to these urban innovation centres.
The Rough Luxe Hives are installed on the roof of the Rough Luxe Hotel in Kings Cross, London.
The Lifeforce Wormery is an experimental device to determine if worms have developed the ability to sense lifeforce.
Humans have evolved to understand five senses (touch, smell, sight, hearing, and taste) while other living beings have evolved in different directions. After a year of careful observation, I believe that worms have a greater connection with the earth and forces that most humans have failed to understand. Worms are deeply connected to the soil, they are able, with the assistance of bacteria, to revitalise "dead" earth; returning it to a fertile state.
This experiment intends to confirm my observations through experimentation. When faced with the option of a conventionally grown apple or one that is grown biodynamically (a farming practice that attempts to work with the universe's greater rhythms), which apple will the worms choose? Which will turn to fertile compost first?
To experience the results simply create a wormery and add one conventional apple and one biodynamic apple. Return to the wormery in two weeks for results.
Will working with worms allow us to expand our senses?
A collaboration with designer Louise O'Conner, Communing Through Costuming is an exploration of the power of costume to transform one's perspective to allow for alternative engagements within the world they find themselves. After spending days in the forest with wild animals, Louise and I used costume as a means to empower ourselves to engage with these creatures. Through dress we experienced the forest with new senses, we became: spreaders, gatherers, resters, spectacles, seeders, and performers. We designed our clothing to allow us to feel more a part of the forest, less of a visitor.
A reminder that, while we may feel to be outsiders, we are a part of nature.
