Since Darwin, it is clear that flowers and bees engage in an evolutionary race. The honeybee is a complex insect with numerous sensorial features which are matching perfectly with the demands of sensual plants. The black-and-white photographs reveal the elaborate design of some dissected parts of flowers and honeybees. All samples are collected in the Urban Bee Lab, Maes’ apiary and rooftop garden laboratory in the centre of Brussels. The artist made the images with a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) in the laboratory of chemical engineering at the Vrije Universiteit Brussels (VUB), with the help of Dr. Alexander Lutz.
Biography:
AnneMarie Maes (b. 1955) is recognised as a pioneer in art-science projects in Belgium. On the rooftop of her studio in Brussels, she has created an open-air lab and experimental garden where she studies the processes that nature employs to create form. Combining 3d-printing, computer-programmed fabrication with traditional craftsmanship and biotechnology, Maes discovered a new medium for painting and sculpting.
