Voracious Appetites: Eating the Host™ is a traveling museum exhibit/installation with photography, paintings, video, sculpture, and community involvement. In a broad sense, Voracious Appetites explores the ways in which human consumption of limited resources affects the Earth
An observation: |
Our world and our climate are changing, which means we must adapt. But humans tend to live by habit and rarely upgrade our daily routines. Even when confronted with overwhelming evidence, our patterns remain unchanged.
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A method: |
Science Fiction writers have long used a tactic to breakthrough habitual thinking: They give the reader space to postpone judgment and suspend disbelief by changing the time, location, or character-species of the story. Taking readers away from what they "know" helps them tap into curiosity and hear the story's lessons more clearly.
“Voracious Appetites - Eating the Host™” uses this same tactic to tell the story of humans and our responsibility in climate change. |
A metaphor: |
In a warming climate, great swaths of trees have been consumed by bark beetles, followed by inevitable forest fires. We understand forest fires on a visceral level. Across the country, we experience the devastation of fire, feel the effects of smoke, recognize the loss. On an intuitive level, the endgame for the bark beetle is clear: Beetles that maintain the same voracious appetites when the forest is stressed, or out of balance, will likely destroy the forest and themselves.
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The exhibit: |
Through a fascinating array of photo pairs, Voracious Appetites - Eating the Host™ explores the very parallel ways that humans are consuming the resources of a stressed earth, and demonstrates how both species voraciously consume their hosts and environments.
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Elm Bark Beetle and Dubai
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15 large photo pairs illustrate the patterns of bark beetles and the striking similarity to human patterns. Through side-by-side imagery, the viewer draws a connection between the tragic endgame of the bark beetle and the current appetites of humans.
The show asks, “Do humans have greater agency than beetles?”
Sculptural, visual displays, and interactive installations expand and emphasize the connection between human and beetle patterns.
Dendroctonus Approximatus Beetle Gallery and Google Earth Neighborhood
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A book and video of the exhibit will be available.
MORE TO COME!