Mended Moths
object - photodoumentation
aisle ground floor 2
Polyphemus moth with mended wing and cercopia moth with mended leg.
"While living in New Mexico I ordered moths from my home province of Nova Scotia. Having a lifespan of only a few days it was obviously moth specimens which were sent. I mended the parts of these specimens which broke during the journey, and documented it through photography. There is an absurd attention drawn to the futile effort of mending the moths. I relish this pathetic desire to make things whole as it stands for the human desire to lay our finger on the pulse of something which means, and also the way in which it alludes to our current obsession with mending and making things BETTER. In the context of the institution the moths are a perplexing blend of
beauty, but not the bright beauty of butterflies. They are the plain
cousins who have received the useless attention and effort towards being made whole" (Sheilah Wilson)