Dark liquid flows slowly along the shell of a large, transparent chrysalis, hanging in the center of the installation – a 3D-scanned and printed pupa of the Atlas moth, the largest moth in existence.
Through transparent tubes, stretching from two delicate steel bars, the chrysalis pumps the liquid out of the basin beneath, like a heart pulsating inside a ribcage in the middle of a body.
Clusters of spiky plants, cocooned in oily, wet latex, sprout through the thick mist within the basin, stirred up by heavy drops falling from the chrysalis above.
A blinding vein of light illuminates the chrysalis from within,
luring in moths during darkness. An intricate, ornamental pattern, ripped into the latex on the window front, frames the installation.
The cultural depiction of moths, unlike butterflies, is clouded in mysticism and gloomy folktales. They are generally associated with death and rebirth, emerging out of the darkness inside their cocoons into the night.
Their everlasting longing for light often results in their death. A gathering of moths is called an eclipse or whisper. Their swarming bodies eclipse the luring light source – they have devoured their purpose.
@blitzbube
With the kind support of Wüstenrot Stiftung, Rosspartner Werbetechnik, GEISTUNDGELD e.V., SV SparkassenVersicherung, and Stuttgart Cultural Office