A Requiem for Insects by Rose Armstrong

Installation / Conceptual Installation

Published: 19.11.2020

Installation: A Requiem for Insects by Rose Armstrong.Bamboo plywood, watercolour paint.. 2018.180 x 240 x 10 cm.Photo by: Jack Durr, Sophie Fitch.Laser cut, engraved..
. "A Requiem for Insects" reflects the decline in insect populations in Australia and the associated fears about the impending extinction of these species. Insects are important for human health and the closed nature of the ecosystem. All of the species shown in the installation are now on the list of threatened beings. Original-sized insects are created by laser cutting and engraving of wood. The forms are also painted in watercolors to look more natural. Rose Armstrong creates a series of works that documents the dissolving process of each insect in different stages. The individual components of the work are characterized by fragility and detail, which at the same time adequately and emphatically implement the delicacy of these living beings, as well as the threat to their existence. The use of wood also refers to the cutting down of the old forests and the removal of the natural habitat of the insects. The arrangement of the works is reminiscent of scientific collection concepts. In doing so, they not only indicate a museum context, but also the consideration of whether such insects can still find their way into such collections in a few years' time, or whether they are not already extinct by then..

Laser cut, engraved.

"A Requiem for Insects" reflects the decline in insect populations in Australia and the associated fears about the impending extinction of these species. Insects are important for human health and the closed nature of the ecosystem. All of the species shown in the installation are now on the list of threatened beings. Original-sized insects are created by laser cutting and engraving of wood. The forms are also painted in watercolors to look more natural. Rose Armstrong creates a series of works that documents the dissolving process of each insect in different stages. The individual components of the work are characterized by fragility and detail, which at the same time adequately and emphatically implement the delicacy of these living beings, as well as the threat to their existence. The use of wood also refers to the cutting down of the old forests and the removal of the natural habitat of the insects. The arrangement of the works is reminiscent of scientific collection concepts. In doing so, they not only indicate a museum context, but also the consideration of whether such insects can still find their way into such collections in a few years' time, or whether they are not already extinct by then.