Insect Poetics - Antennae The Journal of Nature in Visual Culture

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In Autumn 2001 Poul Beckmann released Living Jewels, a photographic book giving evidence of the amazing diversity of shapes and colours offered by beetles. With its 192 crispy clear images the book quickly acquired popularity as one of those volumes that everyone should take a look at. A NEW ENTOMOLOGY DISPLAY CABINET? Poul Beckmann’s Living Jewels series has been hailed as the perfect marriage of art and science. With its obsessively detailed close-up photography and a highly distinctive compositional style, Living Jewels may represent an alternative to the traditional entomology display cabinet. Text and Questions by Giovanni Aloi Poul Beckmann Euchroea Flavoguttata 4 In May 2007 Poul Backmann is back with Living Jewels 2, a second attempt to cover more of the incredibly vast world of beetles. It has to be mentioned that unlike other publishing offerings, Living Jewels (1 and 2) is not the usual type of project where good quality images of the natural world printed on a large
size are perfect ingredients for the season’s coffee table. Surely the quality of the images plays a big role in the appeal of the book, but we also believe that the systematic approach employed in the taking if the photographs is what really makes these volumes special. Both present beetles in a pseudo-entomological way. Subjects are not contextualised neither dramatised. Exception made for the absence of the traditional pin transfixing elytrae, the simplicity of composition and consistency of approach clearly echo the pragmatic rhythms and parameters of the entomology display cabinet. Although this is evident, Ruth Kaspin, writer of the introduction to the first volume explains that: “With 350,000 identified species within 166 families, beetles represent one in five living species on earth, and one in four of all animal species. Any attempt to show them all would be an impossible task. This collection cannot come close to being a true representative sampling of all beetles, or all beetle families; it is merely a showcase of a few of the most beautiful and most readily available to collectors. Nor is this book an entomology text. Given that the subject is so enormous and diverse, scientific treatments are necessarily very specific, with volumes devoted to data concerning a single genus or species.” Whilst we understand the necessity to stress that Jewels is not an entomological text in the way that it does not share the aims and methods of the academic sample, it is difficult to ignore the fact that the images offer an experience which is more similar to the viewing of entomology display cabinets than that offered by the traditional wildlife illustrate book. We interviewed Poul Beckmann to understand if this is just a coincidence. Can the photographs in Living Jewels 1 and 2 be seen as a substitute to the traditional display cabinets of Natural History Museums? Our books remove the glass barrier of the display case and add the dimension of magnification, but we don't see them as an alternative to natural history museums. The natural history museum presents animal specimens within the frame of reference of their place on earth; their function in the grand scheme of things as predator or prey, pollinator or parasite, how they interact with other species, and how they harm or benefit our human enterprises. Conversely, we have chosen to take the order Coleoptera, the beetles, and present them outside their context, concentrating on their visual appeal and the amazing diversity of their forms, colours and patterns. In the mode of the ancient cabinet of curiosities, we’re going for the wow factor, the sense of awe and wonder that may be the catalyst for further study and investigation. We are avid museum goers and we must give credit to museums for igniting our initial fascination with beetles. It is our hope that these books may 5 generate a few sparks of interest for our readers. Could you describe your approach to documenting beetles as scientific? We attempt to present these animals as they are, as accurately as possible. There is no manipulation of their own natural appearance, no heightening of color or contrast. None is necessary. Their beauty requires no enhancement. Our approach is primarily aesthetic; that is, we are interested in the most intricate patterns, the most various surface qualities - metallic, or iridescent, or matte and velvet-like, and the most grotesque forms of horns, antennae, and body shapes. Are the beetles you have photographed dry specimens or alive insects? They are all dried specimens. What remains of a beetle, post mortem, is exoskeleton and wing sheaths do not fade or change color. Our collection includes beetle species from all over the world. Most exotic species are not available to us as live specimens as there are stringent restrictions against importing live insects into California and there are also a great many nations that restrict the exportation of their native species. Poul Beckmann Euchroea auripiment
Page 1 and 2: Antennae Issue 3 Autumn 2007 - Volu
Page 3: CONTENTS ANTENNAE ISSUE 3 Volume 2
Page 7 and 8: Poul Beckmann Deliathis flavis 7
Page 9 and 10: ooks. The notion of nature as art i
Page 11 and 12: Lane Hall and Lisa Moline Entomolog
Page 13 and 14: C hildren’s literature is populat
Page 15 and 16: Jennifer Angus and Alistar MacDonal
Page 17 and 18: In Cricket Call the cricket partici
Page 19 and 20: Amy Young Holodeck, 2007, Live cric
Page 21 and 22: Human viewers of this scene can wat
Page 23 and 24: the ballet-like encounters between
Page 25 and 26: Catherine Chalmers Hiding, C-Print
Page 27 and 28: LaChapelle fashion spread. Other ph
Page 29 and 30: Catherine Chalmers Molting, C-Print
Page 31 and 32: D uring the Black Death, mass open
Page 33 and 34: (left & right) The World Tempter or
Page 35 and 36: system. Mary Douglas maintains that
Page 37 and 38: A “Colour and Design” symposium
Page 39 and 40: Two bumblebee workers attempting to
Page 41 and 42: Two images of bumblebees (bearing i
Page 43 and 44: It’s late June in Clarendon Hills
Page 45 and 46: Jen Holiday Emerging nymph insects
Page 47 and 48: APRIL 16 Pioneer Press “Here they
Page 49 and 50: hen in 1885 Vincent M Holt wrote hi
Page 51 and 52: aiter, there’s a fly in my soup!
Page 53 and 54: Infested!, Dr. Cockroach, and Natio
Page 55 and 56:
In part because of the very disgust
Page 57 and 58:
Antennae.org.uk Issue four will be
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