July 17, 2014
Contact Sigma Xi: Jamie Vernon, (919) 549-4691, jvernon@sigmaxi.org
Contact RTP 180: Anna Rhyne, (919) 549-8181, rhyne@rtp.org
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., July 17, 2014—Humans are bitten and stung by them, and sometimes have their gardens and crops eaten or even destroyed by these little organisms. Insects are everywhere and have a bad reputation with many people. But without them, the terrestrial environment would fall into chaos. Scientist-turned-artist Brandon Ballengée (http://brandonballengee.com/) is trying to change the perspective that many people have of insects and is doing so by attracting both human and insect together for a night in the Research Triangle Park.
Ballengée said his Love Motel for Insects aims to inspire people about “those pesky creatures many of us never think of unless we are trying to swat them.” Being the most diverse group of animals on the planet, insects are essential to human
survival, such as pollination of many plant-crops.
“We need bugs, and it is about time we learn to appreciate these tiny marvels of evolution and heroes of ecosystems,” he said.
Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society (http://www.sigmaxi.org/) is showcasing Ballengée’s sculptures July 17 during RTP180: Art in the Triangle (http://www.eventbrite.com/e/rtp-180-art-in-the-triangle-tickets-12126124565). The free,
sold-out event will be held at The Research Triangle Park off of Davis Drive from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. with around 300 people planning to attend.
“It is wonderful to be able to work with an organization as prestigious as Sigma Xi and be able to bring the Love Motel for Insects to a larger audience,” Ballengée said. “It is really an honor, and I look forward to meeting all members of the audience: human and arthropod alike.”
Ballengée will present his Love Motel for Insects that are comprised of sculpted, lit structures that use ultraviolet lights to attract bugs so people can learn more about them. Artwork from all over the Triangle will also be presented along with
several speakers, music from Jack the Radio, and a live art performance by the North Carolina Museum of Art.
“Sigma Xi is pleased to promote Brandon’s work by sponsoring events like this,” said Jamie Vernon, Ph.D., director of science communications and publications at Sigma Xi and editor-in-chief of American Scientist. “Fusion of science and art is occurring more and more often, partly due to a mutual interest, among scientists and artists, in communicating the importance of science to all of us. Brandon’s focus on insect mating habits creates the opportunity for scientists to convey some of what we know about the role insects play in our food supply and other aspects of our lives. Besides, bug sex is simply intriguing."
Entomologists Elsa Youngsteadt and M. J. Epps, both postdoctoral researchers at North Carolina State University, put together a pamphlet on the most common species in the area before the event so that attendees could identify some insects. An article about Ballengée’s artwork was recently published in Sigma Xi’s magazine, American Scientist:
http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/pub/invitation-to-an-insect-rendezvous/.
About Sigma Xi:
Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society was founded in 1886 and is an international, multidisciplinary research society whose programs and activities promote the health of the scientific enterprise and honor scientific achievement. Sigma Xi chapters can be found at colleges and universities, industrial research centers, and government laboratories. The Society endeavors to encourage support of original work across the spectrum of science and technology and to promote an appreciation within society at large for the role research has played in human progress. To that end, Sigma Xi publishes the award-winning American Scientist magazine, awards hundreds of grants annually to promising student researchers and sponsors a variety of programs that serve science and society.