ABSTRACT
In 2017 the two of us were selected from an open call to artists to be part of the UK Research Council’s ‘Valuing Nature Programme’ called WetlandLIFE. The artist brief read: “We are looking for artists whose work can contribute to our knowledge and appreciation of wetlands and mosquitoes. By this we mean artworks, in any medium, that seek to influence our awareness, understanding, attitudes, emotions, values or behaviour towards them, and the ecological and social interactions that have brought them into being.” Starting from a position of knowing next to nothing about mosquitos we found ourselves on a massive learning curve, largely informed by the entomologists within our research team. From the position at our two research sites of Alkborough Flats in North Lincolnshire and in Bedford, Priory Park and Millennium Park, our perception of the mosquito shifted from a nuisance that could be a potential danger to human health, to an insect that was a vital part of the ecosystem with many other species dependent on it and its eggs and larvae as a food source. Yet, more than that, we came to appreciate that the mosquito is a highly developed, successful and awe-inspiring insect.
