Transdisciplinary

"be a bee" is a transdisciplinary sound sculpture by Beat Hofmann and Andrew Phillips.

She audibly offers insights into the mysterious life of bees and lets people sing with the bees. 

The audience experiences a kind of metamorphosis: In the Beehive (yellow cube) they are completely enveloped by bee sounds, as if they were part of them. In the Approach corridor (red steles), singing people "fly around" the listening person together with the bees.

A transition from animal sound to cultural sound, from natural sound to aesthetic sound expression.

From research to art

"be a bee" is an artistic response to the research project From the sound of the beesThe bee moves us, sharpens our perception and shows itself to us in a new form.  More information (PDF).

After the first exhibition at the Zoological Museum of the University of Zurich (2013/2014), the art installation complementing the special exhibition Bees - endangered wonder world at Museum to All Saints' Day 2015 as a guest. By placing it in the changing room of the Kunstmuseum, the exhibition organisers spanned an arc from natural science to art. In 2020, "be a bee" was a guest at the Natural History Museum Fribourg as a solo exhibition. In 2023/2024 beeabee was part of the exhibition Être(s)ensemble of the Geneva Ethnographic Museum. This exhibition was dedicated to human perception of plants and animals. The sound installation reflects the auditory approach to nature.

Implementation

The composition by Beat Hofmann and Andrew Phillips transfers the Nature sound into a Art sound. An ad hoc choir was inspired by the sounds, movements and behaviour of bees to create new forms of expression. Further information on the composition (PDF).

In addition to the installation, there are always public guided tours. Likewise, beekeepers from the Hinwil and Zurich Beekeepers' Associations gave accompanying presentations of their craft at the Zoological Museum of the University of Zurich. Further information.

Around 300 pupils from primary schools in the canton of Zurich were able to take part in workshops on the subject of From Sound of the bees at the Zoological Museum of the University of Zurich.