An optical installation
In entomology, the "Malaise traps" are used for harvesting insects. Insects do not leave footprints but the passing flying beings can be captured in a trap. The tent-like structure invented by the Swedish entomologist René Malaise funnels insects into a collecting vessel. Insects fly inside the tented fabric, which again directs them towards a jar filled with ethanol.
The work transforms René Malaise’s inventive design into a collective viewing device. In our exhibition no living insects will be trapped. Instead, the collecting jar of an entomological malaise trap is replaced by slide viewrs. Each slide viewer shows a photograph of an insect bite.
Author:
Tuula Närhinen (Visual artist, DFA) UNIARTS, Helsinki
"The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), a US military research agency, is developing cyborgs out of insects. The idea is to implant electronic chips, detectors and processors in the body of a fly or cockroach, which will enable either a human or an automatic operator to control the insect’s movements remotely and to absorb and transmit information. Such a fly could be sitting on the wall at enemy headquarters, eavesdrop on the most secret conversations, and if it isn’t caught first by a spider, could inform us exactly what the enemy is planning."
― Yuval Noah Harari, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
