Beetle shell ceiling

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By Becky Stern
Posted 2009/08/18 @ 7:16 am
Category Art & Design

1.6 million Buprestidae shells were glued to the ceiling of the Royal Palace in Brussels. The project is by artist Jan Fabre and his team of 30 beetle-gluers.

BY Becky Stern

Becky Stern is head of wearable electronics at Adafruit Industries. Her personal site: sternlab.org

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12 Responses to Beetle shell ceiling

Anonymous on August 18th, 2009 at 7:38 am said:

this is horrible.

this blatant disregard for life is not something to be celebrated.

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SKR on August 18th, 2009 at 8:05 am said:

This is awesome.

I have always admired the shells of this genus.

@ the previous comment

from an interview with the artist:
“The Sternocera acquisignata used in the Royal Palace is a non-protected species that appears abundantly in certain countries. In Thailand, the beetle is fried for consumption and its shell is discarded. “

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Bob Ziggo on August 18th, 2009 at 10:28 am said:

Why didn’t they glue this so called ‘artist’ to the ceiling instead of killing over a million of Gods creatures?

This is a sickening display of degenerate consumerism

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- Anonymous on August 18th, 2009 at 11:57 am said:
  
  “God’s creatures”? Do you have the authority to assume God’s will? Also consider that God gave man authority over the Earth in Genesis and that many theologians have argued that the lord put animals on Earth for man to use. The artist commissioned for this work makes it clear in his interview that he is a man of God himself. I would be wary of trying to use religion to argue that the use of these insects is immoral.
  
  I also would not use “consumerism” to describe this work. Maybe I’m wrong but usually consumerism refers to the consumption of consumer goods in excess of society’s needs.
  
  That off my chest, killing millions of beetles is something that I do not feel comfortable with, I just think that your post really made some serious errors. Nevertheless, we aren’t quite sure how the shells were obtained, maybe they weren’t killed inhumanely or even killed at all. The interview with Fabre suggests that these were obtained from various existing collections from universities and perhaps that some shells were the leftovers of some exotic meals. Unless you are a vegetarian who wishes the fate of slaughtered animals upon people in that business, I would point out the hypocrisy of someone who is disgusted by the deaths of common beetles and yet happily eats meat regularly. Finally we aren’t even sure if they were killed. These beetles only have a lifespan of one/two days up to two weeks, so for all we know the artist used beetles that died of old age.
  
  According to the interview, Fabre commonly uses themes of death, so maybe the intention of this piece is to evoke conflicting feelings about the horror and beauty of death.
  
  Reply ↓
Phillip Torrone on August 18th, 2009 at 6:32 pm said:

excellent project and post. stunning, humbling and amazing.

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Doctor Allen on August 18th, 2009 at 8:17 pm said:

I wonder how they hold up over time.

If you glaze them, to ensure they last, this would make a great tabletop.

I wonder if you can source beetle shells without traveling to Southeast Asia. Aren’t they used in dyes?

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- jammit on August 18th, 2009 at 9:06 pm said:
  
  Sort of:
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochineal
  
  Reply ↓
nathan wright on August 19th, 2009 at 1:34 am said:

This is truly sad. I can see the upside, but there are several million downsides, as in the amount of beetles that are stuck to the roof. I hope it gets struck by lightning.

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timbudtwo on August 19th, 2009 at 3:49 pm said:

I am so glad this turned into a flame/troll/trash comment bin, rather than something useful.

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Scary Gydhia on August 31st, 2009 at 11:29 am said:

Protected species or not, this is sad. I daresay it’s beautiful, although I wonder how long the iridescence lasts after they are dead? I don’t think I would want a ceiling flaunting death in my home.

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Kane on September 1st, 2009 at 6:10 am said:

It is beautiful but I can’t help but wonder how the removal of 1.6 million beetles will affect the ecosystem.

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