« What's Weird | Main | Through the Stained Glass: Religion and the Media » Caddis Worm Art Artist Hubert Duprat has been collaborating with insect larvae to create 18-carat gold sculptures, some also incorporating pearls or beads. [Link] Essentially, this in vitro experiment involves the modification of the larva's natural habitat and, more precisely, the replacement of the building materials ordinarily found by the larva (sand, small bits of gravel, sprigs of plants, the shells of planorbid and other water snails) with new materials. To begin with, I put the insect in a gold-filled environment for as long as it takes the creature to form a rough case. The larva must be able to move around in its new case and be picked up without any risk of breaking the fragile construction. First, I only provided the larvae with gold spangles, but then I gradually added beads of turquoise, opal, lapis lazuli and coral, as well as rubies, sapphires, diamonds, hemispherical and Baroque pearls, and tiny rods of 18-karat gold. jon posted this at 7:29 AM |
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