Honeybees & EMF:
Intraspecific Transmissions Beyond The Hive
Inspired by data that links radiation emissions from cell towers and 5G technology to the spectrum of biological and behavioral side effects experienced by honeybees, Honeybees & EMF Radiation: Intraspecific Transmissions Beyond The Hive (2022) is informed by processes of converting EMF radiation into sound waves. At Wave Farm, Desiree Mwalimu-Banks and Grant Cutler captured radiation waves from local bee hives using a number of electronic measurement devices and transmuted these libraries of sound into broadcast material for collaborative sound installations. The work seeks to create opportunities for education on the impact of EMF radiation within the Upper Hudson Valley landscape, while reflecting on how the bodies and complex communication systems of honeybees mirror our own. Through a series of daily field recordings, Mwalimu-Banks and Cutler explored practices of deep listening, to both the activity of honeybees inside the hive, and the reverberation of sound transmissions within the ecology of their field of resonance. Listening to the fluctuations in vibroacoustics caused by EMF radiation, may offer insight into the consequences of living in an increasingly 5G-centered world. By generating this archive of materials, Mwalimu-Banks and Cutler created psychic maps for interactive dialogue with honeybees and their transmissions on sovereignty, accountability, community, and sustainability.
Listen here and here.
Learn more about the project.