Pollinate/Illuminate is a written paper and exhibition investigating the counterpoint of human, bee and plant
sensory perception. Actuated by Karen Barad’s and Donna Haraway’s diffractive methodologies I argue that
traditions of botanical illustration and taxonomy limit the possibilities by which humans imagine ecologically meshed
relationships with bees. The artwork questions problematic values of control inherent in modern agricultural practices,
especially monocultures. After initial experiments in immersive installation I make a series of ‘deviant’ botanical
illustrations, critical of the Linnaean method of taxonomy to explore difference from within an epistemological system
that negates it. These illustrations show a proliferation of different possibilities for ultraviolet vision, which is how
bees see flowers. Bathed in UV light, the exhibition demonstrates the counterpoint of how plants, bees and humans
respond differently to colour and light. By studying needs and desires across species Pollinate/Illuminate makes an
argument for biodiversity that hums with possibility.

• http://www.marjanverstappen.com/