The Bee Monitoring project probes deeply within a network of ICT-enhanced beehives. Between may 2011 and april 2012, a complete cycle, from the awakening till the hibernation of the bee population, was recorded in a continuous stream of pictures, sound and sensor data. All this information is readily available online for beekeepers, scientists and other artists, offering an opportunity to study the bees as bio-indicators.
Two webcams were placed into the beehive, and the bee colony’s action were monitored and registered from the very moment that the swarm arrived into the beehive. We were filming the actions in real time, during 365 days, spring, summer, fall and winter. All images have a timestamp.
The webcams registered at 15 fps and the images were stored on the server, but also streamed in realtime. The final product is a video were the 365 days are compressed into 12 hours.
The same time, sensor data were recorded inside and outside of the beehive. Inside the values of temperature, humidity and Co2 were registered, outside the temperature and humidity values were noted.
The Bee Laboratory displays the artistic research on one year of monitoring -/outside- of the hive of a city bee colony. Beekeepers, scientists and artists were collaborating to collect data on the colonies’ behaviour to its urban surroundings.
The monitoring project is located in the open air laboratoria of our urban rooftop gardens. It offers the opportunity to study the bee colonies as bio-indicators. In this documentary installation we give a research survey of the timeslice may 211 – april 2012 in data, sound and images.
The ‘Webcam 365 days’ video was presented
– M HKA (Antwerp), as part of the show ‘The Lives of Animals’ (2024)
– as part of the Foraging Fields installation in the exhibition FIELDS, Riga – Latvia, from 15 may 2014 to august 4 2014 – the Peephole (dancing bees).
– as part of the Scientific Inquiries exhibition in Istanbul at Koç University, from 7 november to 7 december 2013.
ANTENNAE — AUTUMN 2024 (on dataism)
Notwithstanding its significance, data presents a great deal of uncertainty. From a material standpoint, it is both real and invisible; it is something that, in the process of being understood, both shapes and renders the world. Some see it as the pinnacle of human intellect, while others regard it as nothing more than an exploitative and monitoring system. In 2013, well before AI took the artworld by storm, New York Times political commentator David Brooks coined the term ‘dataism’. In his article ‘The Philosophy of Data”, Brooks posited that in an ever more intricate world, the utilisation of data could mitigate cognitive biases and shed light on latent behavioural patterns. More recently, according to scientist Albert-László Barabási, “Dataism is an artistic practice that acknowledges how data has become humanity’s principal means of understanding nature, characterising social processes, developing new technologies, and, increasingly, probing what makes us human. This approach to art making is fuelled by the conviction that art cannot escape, ignore, or bypass data if it wishes to remain relevant to the post-visual processes that shape our society”.
Antennae’s ‘Dataism’ focuses on the impact AI and other forms of data analysis and rendering are having on art making, curatorial practices, and writings that center on ecocritical themes. Which applications, modalities, engagements, and manifestations can be seen as productive? How can data analysis manifest what might otherwise remain idle? How can it expand our thinking remits and ability to connect? How can it instil empathy or promote alienation?