Installation:
Feral Surfaces magnifies native pollinator habitat within the biodiverse city. Its circular cut-outs recall the markings of the leaf-cutter bee, one among Europe’s estimated over three thousand native bees. These bees live, not in hives, but holes in the ground, wood and reeds. Elusive and hard to monitor, these important pollinators are threatened by habitat loss. We can only estimate the dramatic loss of about 75% of insect species over the past 50 years, in what has been called an “Insect Apocalypse,” threatening planetary food webs.

Feral Surfaces:
The surface of this installation is made of mycelium-hempcrete solitary “bee nests,” cast in place into geocells, and native plants: it offers a surface of encounter and empathy between human and non-humans. The mycelium was grown over two weeks for the installation; it has air dried to its current hardness. After the installation we propose that these bee panels be given away: people can place a bee panel under a plant or bush in a garden and it can provide a new habitat until it eventually decomposes and can become compost for the garden.