Project 1

 

    Akin to Andy Goldsworthy’s sculptures that are created in nature with the idea that they will fall away naturally, I decided to engage in a type of performance art in my surrounding nature which I captured through video. For the first few years of my life, I lived along the east coast of the U.S down in North Carolina. Every summer evening, me and my sisters would sit outside in the dusk and watch as the fireflies began to glimmer. Sitting in the grass, you would see small electric pops of light, a light that faded just as quickly as it began. We would capture these little insects in our hands and act as if our enclosed palms are mini lanterns to then release them back into the trees, and try again. In my recent trip to Ontario, I have noticed less and less of these little lightbulbs dancing in the darkening hues of the sky. The International Union for Conservation of Nature featured these magical little insects on the red list of species at risk for endangerment. The Science of the Total Environment study called Illuminating patterns of firefly abundance using citizen science data and machine learning models, describes the reasoning for firefly population decline and how humans are largely responsible. According to the data, firefly populations are falling due to habitat loss, light pollution from artificial lights and pesticide use (Darin J. McNeil, et.al). In my performance art, I demonstrated the damages of current human technology that we are not always completely conscious of in hopes that it can bring awareness to how our actions big or small can affect the surrounding environment and species around us.

Works Cited

Darin J. McNeil, Sarah C. Goslee, Melanie Kammerer, Sarah E. Lower, John F. Tooker, Christina M. Grozinger, Illuminating patterns of firefly abundance using citizen science data and machine learning models, Science of The Total Environment, 2024