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Inflatable sculpture designed and hand built (in collaboration with Colette Aliman) for the Festooning project

Since attending bee school in 2009 I have studied with progressive beekeepers across the country. Festooning the Inflatable Beehive is a collaborative project under my creative direction that consists of a traveling installation anchored by a giant inflatable Skep beehive (designed and built by hand without the aid of computer programs or fabricators) + playful, progressive models of education and engagement that I call Festooning.

In a beehive, honeycomb segments hang like rounded curtains from either beehive top-bars/frames placed by a beekeeper or simply limbs of a tree. Before the modern day filing cabinet-style beehive was invented (by Reverend Langstroth, in a Deerfield, MA), the traditional woven Skep was used. The way that these scalloped chunks of comb would drape inside it also mirrors the ways bees string their bodies together between the frames of comb to build cells. This behavior is called Festooning in the beekeeping world. The root of the word FESToon comes from *Feast or *Festival and refers to an abundance of material that is so plenty it falls off the table, drips and drapes indulgently. Such excess is managed by pinching it into segments. The Festoon was used in many historic art and architectural designs but has come to be an interdisciplinary term to describe this scalloped form. In addition to beekeepers it’s used by dentists, electricians, party supply stores, etc. For our Festooning projects, my collaborator Colette Aliman and I use this playful, abstract form to talk about community- when individual parts link to form an energized system.

Festooning the Inflatable Beehive is a project that consists of a traveling installation anchored by a giant inflatable skep beehive (created by Maria Molteni and Colette Aliman) + playful, progressive models of education and engagement that Molteni calls Festooning. In a beehive, honeycomb segments hang like rounded curtains from either beehive top-bars/frames placed by a beekeeper or simply limbs of a tree. Before the modern day filing cabinet-style beehive was invented (by Reverend Langstroth, in a Massachusetts), the traditional woven Skep was used. The way that these scalloped chunks of comb drape inside also mirrors the ways bees string their bodies together between the frames of comb to build cells. This practice is called Festooning in the beekeeping world. The root of the word FESToon comes from *Feast or *Festival and refers to an abundance of material that is so plenty it falls off the table, drips and drapes indulgently and ornately when such quantities are managed by pinching it into segments. Decorative, scalloped Festooning may run along the edge of a wall, doorway, or table. The Festoon was also seen in historic works of art and architectural. The word has come to serve as an interdisciplinary term to describe this structural motif. Beyond beekeeping, it refers to the manner in which teeth attached to gums, strings of islands sit in the ocean, electrical wiring hangs, and party flags adorn a room. In Festooning workshops Molteni uses this playful, abstract form to talk about community- when individual parts link to form an energized system- like the communal nature of the beehive. The beehive and contextual ideas have traveled to food festivals, bee conferences, community gardens, and schools. Molteni, often with Aliman and other collaborators, has developed programing that incorporates movement and the body (sometimes even a waggle-dance party), entomology, etymology, environmental activism, reading circles and performances. Ultimately the takeaway for participants is a greater understanding of our communal power, a motivation to engage responsibly with other species, and the ability to make cultural and conceptual connections between seemingly separate fields of study. Though not only focused on beekeeping, this project dives deeper into the history and application of various Apicultures during a time when beekeeping has become a misunderstood and fetishized environmental mission.