The College of the Canyons Art Gallery opened its latest exhibition, “A Better Nectar,” by Jessica Rath with Robert Hoehn on Monday.
The multisensory installation, which is based on the artists’ research into co-evolutionary communication between flowering plants and their pollinators, will remain in the college’s on-campus gallery until Thursday, March 28.
“Jessica Rath’s beautiful and compelling meditation on bees brings together contemporary art, science and our environment so poetically – and I think – profoundly,” Pamela Lewis, director of the college’s art gallery, said in a news release. “(Rath) explores big ideas by way of these small insects! I can’t wait for everybody to see it.”
Visitors who are able to gaze upon “A Better Nectar” will encounter human-scaled sculptures that evoke a bee’s sensory journey from nest to nectar, as the installation will feature both audio and visual elements that interpret the bee’s experience, college officials said.
“Resonant Nest,” the exhibition’s centerpiece, is a human-scaled bumblebee nest that emanates human voice interpretations of bee communication, and the accompanying six-part score, which is composed by Hoehn, shifts in response to sensory inputs that are embedded in the sculpture.
“Bee Purple,” an immersive light work that emulates how bees experience the color wavelengths that attract them to floral patterns and nectar, will also be on display.
The college is scheduled to host the exhibit’s artists for a lecture and discussion from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 11, in Mentry Hall room 305, according to college officials. A free public reception and celebration for the artists will follow from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. in the art gallery.
All gallery exhibitions and related events are free and open to the public, and those who are unable to visit the gallery during normal hours are welcome to contact the gallery to schedule a viewing appointment.
For more information, visit the art gallery’s webpage.
