Swarm (collaboration with Halima Cassells)
Swarm, a site-specific installation in downtown Detroit, speaks to the ideas of collectivism, shared knowledge, and reflection as it beckons all who pass by. Artists Halima Afi Cassells, and Megan Heeres created this temporal work by reimagining obsolete media materials like CDs, 3.5” diskettes, microfiche film, and by weaving signage vinyl. The form of Swarm is influenced by the formations of pollinators like bugs, birds, and bats that are invited to the site by the blooming of the various native tree species. These animals communicate their collective knowledge through a myriad of signals like sound, sight, smells, and dance and create intriguing shapes as they move.
The reclaimed materials hold immense histories, data, and memories. They represent some of the ways in which human animals have communicated over time. The process of weaving is one of the oldest technologies used by humankind, and the precursor to the first computer. Utilizing both obsolete media exclusively and the process of weaving we ask “what information and memories endure even when the format does not?”