The Bees - Practice Research

This Practice Research project investigates how durational para-theatrical installations operate in public space, both as components of festivalised environments and as autonomous, metaphor-rich encounters that invite critical reflection. The output consists of a series of miniature dioramic worlds housed within beehives, using visual, mechanical and digital techniques to generate allegorical comparisons with human social organisation. Developed between 2013 and 2025 alongside research into outdoor arts audience behaviour, The Bees has been exhibited over 175 times across 120 locations in seven countries, reaching an estimated audience of over 250,000.

The research examines how a unified conceptual and aesthetic framework (in this case an 'apiary') can operate as a performative strategy in its own right. By introducing the apparent presence of stinging insects into crowded public space, the work produces moments of defamiliarisation that disrupt everyday assumptions and prompt reflection. The practice is positioned within metaphoric traditions that use the beehive as a model of human society, and within performative lineages of miniaturisation and enclosed spectacle, situating the work between installation, performance, and audience encounter.

The research was guided by three questions: how might durational installations function within arts festival structures; what conceptual and experiential possibilities emerge from sustained use of a single bounded format; and how cumulative audience encounters affect meaning across time and sites. The methodology combined graphic and workshop-based experimentation, iterative installation, audience interaction, and reflective documentation through time-lapse recording, research journals, and dialogue with producers and audiences. Knowledge exchange was embedded through (five) commissions and co-productions responding to specific local contexts.

The originality of the research lies in its articulation of durational installation as a performative form that accrues meaning through repetition, accumulation, and circulation. It contributes new knowledge by evidencing how para-theatrical objects can function simultaneously as performance, scenography, and research instrument within outdoor arts contexts. The significance and reach of the research are demonstrated through extensive international presentation, professional dissemination, and sustained public engagement.