The Hive

Fantastic installation at Kew Gardens by Wolfgang Buttress designed to highlight the life of bees.

This is a huge structure made of interlinked aluminium rods with LED lights and speakers. I started at the lower level where there is some explanation of the work and the life of bees but then you walk round it to the upper level and stand inside. The lights and sounds you hear there are triggered by bee activity in a real beehive at Kew.

It’s a wonderful calming work where you can take a moment out of a busy day to slow down and relax. You seem to be drawn to walk round the edge and to try to grasp different sounds which often seem to be a couple of steps away.

I think this may now be a permanent feature of the gardens but as it’s relatively new and I was so bowled over by it I thought I’d include it in the blog.

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