Bee Lore

I am fascinated by the Ancient Traditions of the Melissae and found this on the web:

Artist Statement by Nancy Macko

‘My last major piece was an ambitious installation entitled Dance of the Melissae, a multi-sensory, multi-media body of work that explored the world of the honey bee society and its relationship to art, science, technology and ancient matriarchal cultures. This piece was exhibited at the Brand Library Art Gallery in Glendale, California in 1994. The 3,000 square foot space lent itself well to my ideas for creating a multi-sensory construction of an ancient and sacred site and its interior components. The integration and centralization of bees and bee worship by ancient matriarchal cultures are historical testament to the power and fascination of the astounding world of bees.

Borrowing images from nature and bee society, I attempted to reveal the inherent connection between the natural world and technology. The piece incorporated mixed-media wall reliefs, found-object sculptures and computer-generated photographic images installed together and linking traditional media (drawing, painting, printmaking and sculpture) with the more contemporary world of digital media. From a conceptual base that is framed by feminist thought, I am using the “bee” and the “honeycomb” as metaphors to re-interpret scientific ideas. My intention is to suggest that science is based not only on observing nature’s structures but also on imagining them.

“The exhibition thus becomes an investigation of the Enlightenment from the perspective of the practitioner; Nancy Macko’s critique of the information world suggests a Kuhnian paradigmatic shift in which technology becomes ritual, science reverts to magic and art is removed from the site of culture and comes back to life.” (J. M. S. Willette, “How Sweet It Is,” Artweek, February 17, 1994.)’

I’m not exactly sure what this Kuhnian paradigmatic shift is – but you can find out more on Nancy Macko’s work at: http://www.cla.purdue.edu/waaw/Ressler/artists/mackostat.html

See also: http://www.nancymacko.com/ about Nancy Macko’s exibition on LA a year ago – including a wall of hexagons – none of which I saw, unfortunately.  But I think her art and interpretation of the bee lore and feminism is fascinating!