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PETAL CHAMBER

A flowery nest was discovered in both Turkey and Iran on the same day. It belongs to the Osmia avoseta and is a solitary bee that makes nests by plastering together flower petals. Bees are the most important animal pollinators living today, and many flowering plants depend on bees to reproduce. However, nearly 75% of bee species are solitary. This means that for the majority of bees. In this case, the female constructs a nest for herself and saves provisions in each chamber made with pink, yellow, blue, and purple petals.

 

“It’s not common for bees to use parts of plants for nests,” says Dr. Jerome Rozen of the American Museum of Natural History

 

The “Petal chamber” is a textile exterior installation that uses broken umbrellas as petals to form shelters for humans. During my residency at Bamboo Curtain Studio in Taiwan, I collected broken umbrellas. Taipei City is very rainy and windy. It is very common to see a thousand umbrellas at the same time hanging from doors and windows and in the hands of their owners as they walk through the city. The umbrella has become a daily recyclable waste. Taiwan is known for its efficient recycling system, but in the case of the Umbrellas, only the metal part is taken for recycling purposes. The fabric, due to its different plastic compositions, can´t be recycled traditionally. The umbrellas were collected by mail after an open call made by the residence. People from different places around Taiwan sent their broken umbrellas to the studio in boxes. The installation is composed of one large and three small chambers of 10X10X3.5 meters. You are invited to touch, watch, and visit these colorful chambers. Each one of them has provisions like seeds and water for visitors to use and take. 

Petal Chamber, 2018. Umbrellas, wax thread, PVC, and acrylic. New Taipei City, Taiwan. 13m (L) X 10m ( W) X 3m (H).

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