In order for bugs to communicate with potential mates, they move rapidly across plant leaves to create vibrations decipherable only to the insect world. A new show at Sediment Arts offers listeners a rare opportunity to hear these hidden songs for the first time.
Stephen Vitiello, professor and chair of Kinetic Imaging, collaborated with St. Louis University biologist Kasey Fowler-Finn to develop the auditory experience “Singing Amongst the Weeds.” Together, they recorded the vibrations of insects at the University of Virginia’s Mountain Lake Biological Station to create a six-channel composition.
Style Weekly‘s Amanda Dalla Villa Adams visited the show, which is open through April 7.
In her research, Fowler-Finn studies the effects of climate change on insects’ songs. As the climate warms, she has discovered that male and female songs may be altered possibly leading to a mismatch of signals. To indicate the relationship between the insect songs and a shift in temperature, Ollestad’s installation emits lights overhead flowing from cool blues to hot reds. The six posters at the front of the gallery present in scientific terms, alongside infographics and photographs, the research behind the insects’ songs and broader global-warming implications.
Research-based art can be overwhelming in its breadth sometimes, but the best presents a balance between art and research and leaves visitors feeling intrigued, perplexed or transfixed like any great art, while not becoming pedantic.
Read more at Style Weekly. Photo by Dana Ollestad.
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