T A L E  O F  T H E  B E E

This work draws inspiration from the now extinct and nearly forgotten European tradition; Telling the Bees, which involved informing bees about important events in a person's life or in the world by whispering or singing messages into beehives.
According to the myth, as bees had access to the underworld and could act as messengers.

The artwork Tale of the Bee flips the tradition and questions whether bees have something to tell us. Jacob Kirkegaard made a 24-hour sound recording inside a beehive. The sounds of the bees were then printed on vinyl. The sound waves were ultimately transcribed back into panels of beeswax produced by the bees from the same hive.

As an attempt to tune into the bees, or to connect with their sound, Tale of the Bee combines the recordings of the bees with the sound of the human voice.

Created for the exhibition Super Organism - a Bee Story. Munkeruphus, Summer - Fall, 2024.
Vinyl press by Lucy Johnson at Vinyl Press UK. Cut by Ben Pike at Raretone Mastering.
Thanks to Nicolaj Wium and Alex Kolkowski
Supported by the Danish Arts Foundation