| Each
year, Wave Hill invites an artist to create a site work through
the program generated@wavehill. This year’s project, The
Grafter’s Shack, by J. Morgan Puett, is on view after
July 14 in the Abrams Woodland. A portion of this installation
was included in the Insecta Magnifica exhibit in the Glyndor
Gallery this spring.
To celebrate the art of beekeeping,
a bee grafter’s shack is sited in a pine grove near the existing
hives. Inside the shack, Puett combines the cottage industries
of beekeeping and sewing by incorporating both the tools used in
keeping bees and the bee grafter’s outfit. This outfit, unique
in the world of working apparel, calms the bees as well as protects
its wearer. Puett has embroidered this custom-designed garment
with a motif based on diagrams of the queen bee’s reproductive system
along with myth and lore of beekeeping.
Queen bee grafting is a relatively
unknown aspect of beekeeping. It is the process of removing
larvae just hatched from the eggs of the best queen. Next,
each little grub is picked up with an earspoon and gently laid in
a cell cup containing royal jelly food. Every bee larva has the
potential to become a queen if properly nourished by its hive mates
or an apiarist.
Bees have long been associated with
many different and often disparate groups. They have been
the symbol for both democratic and totalitarian causes, and have
been employed in religious texts and as symbols for the freemasons.
The visual culture of bees will be exhibited alongside the tools,
books, and costumes.
This project also involves members
of the Puett family who have been involved with beekeeping for four
generations. At the opening of The Grafter’s Shack,
the artist’s brother, Garnett, a beekeeper in Hawaii, will discuss
the plight of the contemporary beekeeper. Her sister Barry
will answer questions about bee grafting. Puett has also worked
with the volunteer
beekeepers at Wave Hill, who maintain the hives on the
property.
Principal funding for the Visual
Arts at Wave Hill is provided by the Stephen and Cathy Weinroth
Charitable Trust. generated@wavehill is supported by the Milton
and Sally Avery Arts Foundation.
|
Printable Version
