Colony Collapse Honey Installation

Artist Statement
Gareth Bate
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While stands the Coliseum,
      Rome shall stand:
When falls the Coliseum, Rome
      shall fall:
And when Rome falls--the World
(Lord Byron)

In perilous times, this installation represents a sense of fragility and interconnectedness. We seem to operate under the strange idea that culture is separate from nature, as opposed to being a manifestation.

The Western honey bee is increasingly under threat from Colony Collapse Disorder where entire bee colonies vanish. When honey drips it naturally forms arches that resemble those of roman architecture. For me the Coliseum is a metaphor for the rise and fall of a civilization.

This piece also asks the question: “Is this a wasteful act? Or is this honey more valuable in the form of art than it would have been stirred into a teacup and forgotten?”

 

Location: Deleon White Gallery, Toronto.
Exhibition: "Bigger, Bigger & More Desperate"
Curators: Colin Kent & Joanna Sheridan
Artists: Gareth Bate, Karen Kraven, Marcia Huyer
Date: Nov. 2008