Bee Agency: artist talk by Anne Marie Maes.

‘Art History Research Talks’ series

Tuesday 20 December, 1.15 pm – 2.30 pm

Location: Sweelinckzaal (Drift 21, room 005), Utrecht University

Free but limited space. Please register via
https://forms.gle/4jUG17ib1V8U798c9

1.15 pm: Artist Talk by Anne Marie Maes

Abstract:

In an era where anthropocentrism defines more than ever the relationship we as humans build with nature, shifting the centre of attention can become a revolutionary act. Bee Agency is a long-term project on the edge of art, science and biotechnology. With the assistance of designers and scientists, Anne Marie Maes develops since more than a decade custom made beehives that can be seen as living sculptures. Her rooftop apiary is a place where interaction between humans & non-humans occurs. This field laboratory forms the basis for a participative open framework research where scientists and artists observe the pollinators as bio-indicators. They study their distributed intelligence, observe their nest building capacities and learn from their relation to/with urban foraging fields.

Bio:

Anne Marie Maes is a multidisciplinary artist, beekeeper and herbalist. She lives and works in Brussels. Her practice combines art and science with a particular interest in biotechnology, ecosystems and alchemical processes. She works with a range of biological, digital and traditional media, including living organisms. On the roof of her studio in Brussels, she has created an outdoor laboratory and experimental garden where she studies symbiotic organisms and the processes nature uses to create form. Her long-term projects “Connected Open Greens”, “Bee Agency” and “Laboratory for Form and Master” provide a framework that has inspired a wide range of artworks, all at the intersection of art and ecology. For many of her projects she uses DIY bio-technology that she develops and integrates in collaboration with fab labs and university research labs. She focuses hereby on the process, often generating an art that creates itself. https://annemariemaes.net
(for context, or to visit at your leisure, see the Bee Embassy at Hoge Woerd www.utrechtnatuurlijk.nl/bee-embassy/)