Bombyx/Homo 1, Phase 1: Proposal

2015

 

Proposal for Wave Hill, Bronx, NY, 2015:

 

I plan to transform the Glyndor Sun Porch into an interactive, interspecies armor hall. Drawing from the histories of residents Perkins and Dean, I will rethink armor from an interspecies perspective to embark in an entangled system dialog. The installation will include: a silkworm habitat, a Mulberry leaf collection station, a public blog for NYC Mulberry Tree image posting, maps to direct viewers to Wave Hill Mulberry Trees, and 30 embroidered silk vests.

 

As an alternative to expensive Kevlar vests, humans can turn to nonhumans for protection. 30 layers of silkworm silk stop bullets. Since silkworm diets consist only of Mulberry leaves, humans have displaced/cultivated multiple nonhumans to produce silk (and subsequently new ecologies). The vests will be embroidered so that when hung they will reveal a map of NYC, with the locations of Mulberry Trees (using Jill Hubley’s tree map).

 

The silkworm habitat will initiate interspecies systems: leaves -> worms -> vests. Leaf collection will allow humans to participate in feeding the worms. The NYC leaves represent the diversity of our new natural environment. Participants can continue their investigations by uploading photos of Mulberry trees to a live blog.