One
of the greatest things about an arts event like the Biennale is that as a
viewer, works reveal themselves as the venue is explored, quite often when you
least expect it. Before me, as I sat on the bench after meandering around on
the upper part of Cockatoo Island, the work of Scottish born artist Alec Finlay
was sparking my curiosity. His installation dotted around the grassy area in
front of me consisting of sound, sculpture, and books (they were above my head), was
inviting closer inspection, but I didn’t engage. Not at first.
The
reason for this was that something was happening and I wanted to try and figure
out what it was. Several tall wooden boxes (which I did think looked a bit like
bee boxes) were scattered around. Each one capped with a silver lid. Placed on
the top of each lid was a large rock. On the side of each box were three
different black letters, for example BSE,
SSE, and TSE. At this point I
plead ignorant because I had no idea what the acronyms stood for. In
conjunction with this was the sound emanating from within each box. Loud,
chaotic and somewhat bee-ish, the
competition of one box over the next was fierce, and somewhat lost to the
fluctuating winds that had been steadily building.
Off
to the left, a large group of visiting primary school youngsters were seated on
the grass; a thriving mass threatening to break from the undulating cluster
trying so desperately to be controlled by a couple of frustrated teachers. The
noise was not dissimilar from that of the boxes. I wouldn’t say that the rising
chatter of children upon the gusts of swirling wind detracted from enjoying the
sound of Finlay’s work. In fact I think it actually accentuated its message. After
reading his statement displayed on a nearby fence, the work and the environment
in which I experienced it, started to have clarity.
Swarm (ASX) is a translation of the world
stock exchange. What I was hearing was the sound of actual economic activity
being retold by the sound of Australian honey bees in the hive. The rise and
fall, the intensity and the slowness – all a reflection of the flow of figures
and data consistently played out on the world stock market every single day.
London, Hong Kong, Sydney, Tokyo – they were all there, ten boxes in total as
ten major players on the economic stage. Now
those black letters made sense.
With
the bees recorded by sound artist Chris Watson, Finlay has described their
natural ecosystem as ‘dynamic, in flux,
undergoing crisis, confronting potential catastrophe’ – sound familiar? For
me, Swarm (ASX) is a clever representation
of contemporary economic society. Stock exchanges are like hives – individuals buzzing around generating deafening
noise all working together for someone (their Queen perhaps?) to get a result.
I have never been one to understand the mechanics of the world, let alone the
financial world – maybe the greed and intensity frightens me, but I feel Swarm (ASX) says an awful lot about how
those involved in moving the pieces of the global economy (I guess we all are…)
around can be perceived by an outsider. A bustling bee hive of workers who will
follow their pursuit until destitution or death – such is the lure of money.
 |
| Photo courtesy of the 18th Biennale of Sydney and Alec Finlay, 2012 |
While
Swarm (ASX) is concentrating on the
economy, the second instalment of Finlay’s Biennale project is The bee library. This is the opposite of heightened
activity. Far from representing the economy, this ongoing project represents a
quest for knowledge – an individual indulgence that yields the honey. This is a
delightful installation hanging in the trees above the wooden ‘hives’ below.
Looking more like traditional birdhouses, their intention is to grab the
attention of single bees without the fancy job. There, in one of several
libraries, bees can hang out in a bamboo pole while housed under a roof made
from an open book and contemplate life away from the grind.
Many
of the books are bee related texts that are being recycled onto Finlay’s bee
library blog The Bee Bole. Slowly the
blog will become a global bee library of information and poetry. The
bibliography currently boasts twenty-four bee books and I imagine will continue
to grow with each incarnation of Finaly’s work around the world (the first
library was installed in Yorkshire in May 2012).
Swarm (ASX) and The bee library were a highlight for me on the island and worthy of
the time to stay just that little bit longer to look, listen and think. Money
or Honey? I know which one I prefer.
Check
out the Bee Bole at http://www.the-bee-bole.com/
