Sarah Sikorie
Nældens takvinge, fjerde møde på Galleri F15
(vi hænger i det samme spind)
Aglais Urticae, Fourth Meeting at Galleri F15
(we are Hanging in the Same Web)
The project Aglais urticae/ Nældens Takvinge (Neslesommerfugl) aims to find paths, hope and kinship between humans and the species living in near proximity to us. Aglais urticae is one of these species; they live everywhere we open up the landscape for nettles to grow and they hibernate in our houses in winter.
In this project, a few of their caterpillars are collected and cared for as they transform into butterflies. Throughout the transformation the caterpillars and later chrysalises become the main character in a series of art works, public events and local collaborations.
Fertilizer for New Narratives
The caterpillar needs a lot of water to go smoothly through the chrysalis phase. They acctually would rather have too much than too little - and thats why they normally have a little left to excrete after hatching. Humans call these red drops meconium.
In ancient times people thought these red drops found on rocks and in the grass were blood and they called it blood rain. They understood the drops as signs from God.
It was not before 1608 when the french scientist Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc watched an Aglais urticae hatch and saw the meconium that its relation to the butterfly was understood.
The ink showed above is made from these drops and contain all thier history and power. What could be written in this ink? should anything be written at all? and what responsibilities, magically and ecologicly, do the writer undertake?
