Art and Arthropods

While most people reach for a shoe or a broom ee a huge bug on their wall, textile designer Jennifer Angus sees beauty and an opportunity for inspiration. For more than a decade, Angus has used dead bugs - wasps, katydid, beetles, mantises and cicadas, as her primary artistic medium. Her installations transform these insects and their vividly colored carapaces into elaborate mounted collages and dioramas that reveal the cultural significance of these animals and hidden stories that arise from patterns in their display. Her latest show at the Staten Island Museum, Magicicada, leans on museum's long history and collections of cicadas, the magic of their 17 year life cycle and the victorian-era aesthetics to create wonder from dead creatures that normally elicit disgust.
Produced by Luke Groskin
Filmed by Luke Groskin and Sam Li
Music by Audio Network
Additional Footage and Stills Provided by The Staten Island Museum and Pond5
Special Thanks to Christie Taylor and Diana Montano

[@wayne3791]

Interesting how different people can see beauty in different things. Very creative.

[@msDanielp369]

I dig the vibes, like how the Victorian era and all that and the nature-like darks and neutrals here and there idk! it's hard to explain

[@user-kb5bn6gf4m]

عمل موفق باذن الله

[@jivejunior8753]

Very ironic that an exhibit dedicated to the wonder of insects, aimed to encourage people to see them differently instead of harming them, is filled to the brim with dead bodies of the very animals whose lives you want people to respect. These insects weren't found dead, they were killed to be collected.
I think the message would have been carried much better if there were paintings, sculptures, photographs, etc. of insects instead.

[@scifri]

Hello! The artist featured in the video has a section of her website regarding the ethics of using insects in her artwork and how she's been reusing the same insects for more than 20 years.
www.jenniferangus.com/Bio/N-bio2.htm M

[@jivejunior8753]

@@scifri I suppose it's good that she reuses them, but it still seems to go against the message she's trying to send. I'm not saying it's immoral, but it's not consistent with the central idea of the art piece.

[@msDanielp369]

huuuuHH

[@trala8911]

Why do the insects need to be dead to show peiple their beauty and wonder?
Honestly it just makes me sad :(