Albert Einstein
Recently l read an article about honey bees facing extinction. The decrease of their population reaches 35% in Europe and 85% in the middle East. Millions of colonies have died since 2006 in the U.S.A. The depopulation of bees could have a huge impact on the environment, which is reliant on the insects for pollination.
Karen Ingram's "Pollinator Frocks" are wearable gardens that attract and feed hungry bees. Featuring electron-microscopy images of pollen, coated with a nectar-like sugar solution that attracts and nourishes bees and as a result dresses mimic the way insects relate to flowers.
On the other hand, Amy Pliszka proposes a series of expandable living spaces-textile hives crafted from pleated fabrics, ceramics, and wood. The Central Saint Martin's graduate conceived of "Bees Beside Us" by picturing the colony as her client, resulting in a mashup of art and science that not only calls attention to the vital role pollinators play in food security but also puts a fresh spin on our traditional notion of the beehive.
The materials she used had to be natural and biodegradable, but also water-resistant, breathable, and insulating. Equally important, the fabric forms had to be visually attractive to the bees, which explains their understated beauty.
