PHOTOS: ISTVAN VIRAG (C) PUNKT Ø / MOMENTUM 9
MEDIATED MATTER (US)
Synthetic Apiary (2016)
The Synthetic Apiary explores the possibility of a controlled space in which seasonal honeybees can thrive year-round. Light, humidity, and temperature are engineered to simulate a perpetual spring environment. Bees are provided with synthetic pollen and sugared water and evaluated regularly for health and wellbeing. In this initial experiment, humans and honeybees cohabitate, enabling natural cultivation in an artificial space in various scales, from organism – to building-scale. In the apiary, the Queen’s biological cycle adapts to the new environment inducing egg laying. These bees exist only in the Synthetic Apiary, but as adults, bees are able to function normally in their natural environment with their innate behavior repertoires. At 2:33 minutes, the video documents the first birth in a synthetic environment: the only life this bee knows is an existence in the Synthetic Apiary.
