A Lebanese proverb: The bedbug has hundred children and thinks them too few *
* Jenny Offill: Dept. of Speculation.
Granta Books, London 2014, 56-58
An installation of sketch books used as swatters
Everyone kills insects for self-protection and to stop them flying around the house. The swatting happens automatically and goes unnoticed. For many years, Närhinen has used artist’s sketch books to eliminate the unwanted intruders. The collection of swatter books documents the everyday act of killing. The black archives of the Serial Killer reveal the surprising brutality of the quotidian practice.
The books are presented opened and tightly protected by vitrines. The book leaves are bent and arranged in a way that they bear resemblance to winged beings at flight.
Author:
Tuula Närhinen (Visual artist, DFA) UNIARTS, Helsinki
“From the dawn of agriculture until this very day, billions of humans armed with branches, swatters, shoes and poison sprays have waged relentless war against the diligent ants, furtive roaches, adventurous spiders and misguided beetles that constantly infiltrate the human domicile.”
― Yuval Noah Harari, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind