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Resonating Bodies

a series of integrated media installations and community outreach projects which focuses on biodiversity of pollinators indigenous to the natural and urban ecosystems of the Greater Toronto Area.

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Resonating Bodies’ projects illuminate aspects of Canada’s biodiversity through focusing on pollination ecology, with special attention paid to the intersection of native bees, habitat and coevolution of plants and pollinators of the Greater Toronto Area, Canada and beyond. Art installations and other activities reveal aspects of local biodiversity through investigating solitary bee and solitary wasp nesting and life cycles, bumblebee colonies and their foraging activities, ultraviolet bee vision, pollinator/plant co-evolution, and colour-coded DNA barcodes (a novel new technique for species identification pioneered by Canadian researchers).

Resonating Bodies does not focus on honey bees or other bees non-native to North America. We recommend you first check out the Bee Biodiversity  page to get familiar with our native bees, who don’t make honey or wax, don’t usually live in groups and don’t usually sting (much).  Contents – listed at right – include the 4 basic sections Bee Biodiversity,  The Art (including Bee Trading Cards),   Community (including comments and discussion),  and  Resources. Handy tabs for the basic sections are at the top of the blog.

Scroll down this page to view featured activities. Credits are at the bottom. Late-breaking news and more is also posted on Resonating Bodies | Facebook.

Above: Agapostemon sericeus, Female (a sweat bee), courtesy Bee Tribes of the World (bugsrus, York University). Banner: Colour-coded DNA barcode courtesy Barcode of Life Data Systems. Photos: Observation bee colony and view of gallery installation by Dave Kemp, Bombus impatiens and flower by Amro Zayed.

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Series 1 Card 11 Front

Bee Trading Cards are now available!

They were created as part of the Bumble Domicile exhibit.

Resonating Bodies Audio Booth

Audio Bee Booths

Audio Bee Booths are amplified habitat installations for solitary bees.

Resonating Bodies - Pollination Wunder Station

Pollination Wunder Station (short) – audio bee booth from Resonating Bodies on Vimeo.

If you have a slower connection, watch this video here.

Audio Bee Booth prototype in action (best viewed with headphones):

More info

Solitary OdesOdes to Solitary Bees

Video poems by Stephen Humphrey and Sarah Peebles

Wild, solitary-dwelling bees of Toronto create nests, manipulate pollen and hang out in the “Audio Bee Booth” and other amplified habitat structures. Macro video with micro audio!  More info

Solitary Dream Homes (for bees)

A grass roots initiative for Toronto and beyond

Create your own, safe “bee house”, sculpture or other structure for wild, solitary-nesting bees and post it to our web gallery on Flickr!  More info

Audio Bee Nesting Plank and Deluxe Log (above) are works-in-progress.

“Window Mini-Gallery”  (2009) is a work-in-progress.

Bumble Domicile composite sm2“Bumble Domicile” exhibit (2008) highlighted distinct features of bumble bees through an observation hive, garden, visual and audio transformations, scent, touch, and biological information. This art installation – community outreach project featured works by Sarah Peebles, Rob King, Anne Barros and Robert Cruickshank,  and was created in collaboration with bee biologists and other researchers in Canada and the USA.  The video “Apiograph” below describes one of the works in the exhibit:  “Apiograph” – an installation visualizing the pollinating activities of the gallery’s observation bumble bee colony . The images generated in “Apiograph” were projected on the gallery wall alongside other elements of the show.

Video: Rob King, Audio: Sarah Peebles

bees-cu

Photo: Rob Cruickshank

Series 1 Card 11 Front

Bee Trading Cards were created as part of the Bumble Domicile show and were available in the gallery.

Credits

Artists, technicians and designers 2008 – 2013 have included Sarah Peebles (project lead), Robert Cruickshank, John Kuisma, Chris Bennett, John Kuisma, Julie Kee, Kevin Steele, Stephen Humphrey, Rob King, Anne Barros, Anneli West, Mike Cameron, Kat Cruickshank, Evan Oxland and Akira Inman, Leigh Bamford, Patrick Ellard, Veronica Ladico and Amro Zayed.

 Resonating Bodies projects have developed in consulation and/or collaboration with biologistsLaurence Packer and Packer lab researchers Scott Thomson, Cory Sheffield, Lincoln Best and Claudia Ratti (York University); James Thomson and Thomson lab researchers Jessamyn Manson and Michael Otterstatter (University of Toronto); Peter Hallett (University of Toronto and ROM); Peter Kevan (University of Guelph; CANPOLIN); and Stephen Buchmann (University of AZ -Tucson, Drylands Institute).

Resonating Bodies projects have been generously supported by CANPOLIN, TD Friends of the Environment, Balls Falls Centre for Conservation, The Canada Council for the Arts & the Ontario Arts Council through the Tree Museum, Drylands Institute, InterAccess Electronic Media Arts Centre, New Adventures in Sound Art, Franklin Children’s Garden and Dufferin Grove Park through the City of Toronto Parks and Recreation.

Additional assistance provided by Pollinator Partnership, The Barcode of Life Data Systems, The Toronto Zoo, The Stop, Spadina Musuem, Patrick Ellard at Maggie’s Farm, York Quay Gallery through Too Cool for School Art and Science Fair, The Pollinator Garden Project, ASCAP Grants to Composers, Toronto Region Conservation Authority, Waterfront Montessori Children’s Centre, Native Buzz (University of Florida), Rob Cruickshank, Stephen Humphrey, and Pollination Canada.

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  • "Resonating Bodies” is a series of integrated media installations, community outreach projects and educational initiatives which focuses on biodiversity of pollinators indigenous to the natural and urban ecosystems of Canada, with special focus on the city Toronto.

  • Most species of bees are solitary: they do not live in colonies, and do not make honey or beeswax. Learn more about biodiversity of Canada's bees and wasps.

  • Contents

    • Balls Falls Conservation Area
    • Bee Biodiversity
    • The Art
      • Odes to Solitary Bees (2010 – 2011)
      • Amplified Habitat Installations for Wild Bees (2009 onward)
        • Audio Bee Booths
          • The Tree Museum (2011)
          • Greenway’s Nature Centre (2011)
          • The Calgary Zoo (2011)
          • Woodburned Prototype (2010-2011)
          • Inhabitants
        • Deluxe Log, Bee Plank (2010)
        • Window Mini-Gallery (2009)
        • Pollination Station–Algonquin Island (2009)
      • Bumble Domicile (2008)
        • Observation Bumble Bee Colony
        • Audio Transformations
        • Data Visualization
        • Electroformed Hive Offering Tray
        • Ultraviolet Video
        • Bee Trading Cards
          • Bee Trading Card Gallery
          • Bar-code Gallery
        • F.A.S.T. Flower Anther Swabbing Team
        • Artist Bios & Credits
      • Art and Ethics
    • Community
      • Pollinator Gardens
      • Pollinators Festival 2011, Toronto
      • Solitary Dream Homes (For Toronto Bees)
      • Toronto’s Wild Bees
      • Bee Houses Around the World
      • Pink Bee Condo – Up Close
      • Comments & Discussion
    • Resonating Bodies on YouTube
    • The Talks
    • Resources
      • About bees, habitat, and coevolution
      • Building Houses for Native Bees
      • About colour-coded DNA barcodes
      • Recommended videos, books, downloadable files & links
      • The Schmidt Sting Pain Index
  • Bumble Bee DNA: Detail of a bar code derived from the DNA of Bombus griseocollis. More about DNA Barcodes

  • pollinator.org Pollinator Partnership provides information on pollinator-habitat conservation, pollinator gardens, co- evolution and more. Pollinator Partnership is a tri-national organization; this site brings together information regarding Mexico, the United States and Canada.

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