The Bee Library

The Bee Library, a project relying on collaboration with the local community and collective action, is intended to prompt critical reflection that goes against the ubiquitous primacy of individualism. Michał Smandek invites you to contribute to a multi-element spatial installation made of beeswax textiles. During the event that spans a series of workshops, those interested will have the opportunity to influence the shape of the exhibition, adding an element they will create on their own. Thus, Smandek shifts the emphasis from ”I” to “we”. By virtue of the project’s participatory nature, the authorship of the installation is spread out among multiple individuals, just as the labour of bees in the hive, while its ultimate visual outcome will only be revealed at the end of the entire event.

The tiny holes in the luminous, yellow matter of the textiles make up a pattern that brings a code to mind. We might call it a hypothetical transcript of the “speech” of bees, rendered through an obscure script. By the same token, the entire installation may be conceived as a Library or Archive of knowledge that we are unable to decipher. Structurally similar forms may be found in Braille, Morse code, punched cards used with the early computers or in Jacquard looms.