For a time when the bee no longer exists
Anne Noble, Aotearoa New Zealand b.1954 / Conversatio: A cabinet of wonder 2018, installed at APT9, GOMA / Photographs, wooden cabinet, metal, glass, sound, scent, patterned perspex, colony of bees / 190 x 70 x 170cm / © Anne Noble / Courtesy: Anne Noble and Two Rooms, Auckland: Bartley + Company Art, Wellington and Jonathan Smart Gallery, Christchurch / Supported by: Bee One Third, JackStone, Brisbane and Creative New Zealand / View full image
In 2018 for ‘The 9th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’, New Zealand photographer Anne Noble created a multi-part project at the heart of which is Conversatio: A cabinet of wonder 2018, a functioning beehive or ‘living photograph’. Bees can be observed entering the Gallery, before disappearing inside the cabinet and going about their normal activities; they are also visible when the cabinet was opened daily for 20 minutes.
Watch | Anne Noble introduces Conversatio: A cabinet of wonder 2018
Watch | Anne Noble discusses the origins of Conversatio: A cabinet of wonder 2018
Museum: For a time when the bee no longer exists
Museum: For a time when the bee no longer exists comprises portraits of bees that recall dust-covered artefacts from another time, together with a 3-D printed insect, resembling the ghost from the portraits. In addition, the luscious Bruissement photograms from the ‘UMBRA’ series of 2015–17 are enlargements of images capturing the light around the wings of dead bees — bees that died from pesticide poisoning — as the artist held them in her hands.
Noble’s works serve as a catalyst for discussion regarding our complex relationship with the bee. An insect revered historically in myth, religion and literature, as well as in present-day science and industrial research, her project stimulates awareness of this species whose essential global existence is threatened by pests, chemicals and disease.
Museum: For a time when the bee no longer exists 2018
Anne Noble, Aotearoa New Zealand b.1954 / Installation view of Museum: For a time when the bee no longer exists, APT9, GOMA / © Anne Noble / Courtesy: The artist and Two Rooms, Auckland / View full image
Dead Bee Portrait #2 2015-16
Anne Noble, Aotearoa New Zealand b. 1954 / Dead Bee Portrait #2 2015-16 / Pigment on paper / 115 x 91.5cm / Image courtesy: The artist and Two Rooms Gallery, Auckland / © The artist / View full image
Dead Bee Portrait #14 2015-16
Anne Noble, Aotearoa New Zealand b. 1954 / Dead Bee Portrait #14 2015-16 / Pigment on paper / 115 x 91.5cm / Image courtesy: The artist and Two Rooms Gallery, Auckland / © The artist / View full image
Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA)
Brisbane, Australia