Brandon Ballengée

An ARTS CATALYST project
2007 - 2008
Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Gunpowder Park, SPACE



Artist Brandon Ballengée's work bridges the gap between biology and art. He combines a fascination with amphibians, fish and insects with techniques of fine art imaging. For the past ten years, Ballengée's primary field of study has been amphibian declines and deformities. During 2007 and 2008.

The Arts Catalyst has commissioned artist Ballengée to lead a UK study into declining amphibian species, through participatory lab and field-based research investigations, working with the public as well as collaborating scientists. Ballengée's investigations are being enabled by residencies at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Gunpowder Park, Essex, and SPACE, London. The study will result in scientific papers and exhibitions of new artworks reflecting the study's processes and outputs.

The Study

Amphibians are the environmental canaries in the coalmine. Of the over 5,000 species of known amphibians, about one-third of them are threatened, critically endangered or already extinct. Amphibian deformities have been found on six continents and also appear to be increasing. The United Kingdom has six native and several introduced species of amphibians. Two of the native species are endangered, the Great Crested Newt and the Natterjack toad, the once Common Toad has declined remarkably in the South East, and a least one species has been found with abnormalities.

The research is studying deformed larval and metamorphosing frogs and toads in wetland sites around the UK. Ballengée is working closely with Richard Sunter from the Wakefield Naturalists Society in Yorkshire and other UK ecologists.


Deformed toadlets found at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, R&D visit 2005
Brandon Ballengée

Eco-Actions: Art & Ecology Projects and Field-Trips

During Summer 2007 and 2008, Ballengée is leading projects and fieldtrips with groups of the public, including schools, as part of the study, conducting biodiversity surveys in local ecologies, including the wetlands at Gunpowder Park and Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Participants are taking an active part in the amphibians survey: terrestrial surveys of adult amphibians, aquatic surveys to monitor species and look for abnormalities, and egg counts to estimate breeding populations.

Love Motels for Insects, 2007

During 2007, groups were also able to study insect-life using Brandon Ballengée's outdoor ‘Love Motels for Insects’ set up in Gunpowder Park and at SPACE. These sculptural works use ultra-violet (black) light to study and photograph arthropods (spiders, moths, beetles, etc.) and other nocturnal creatures. Attracted to the light, these creatures mate and feed on the sculpture. Moths release chemical pheromones to attract mates and consequently "paint" the piece, while spiders will spin webs adding their own contribution to the works. 

More details of artworks, public fieldrsips and the Ecoventions art & ecology study day in 2007

Article on Brandon Ballengée's work by Nicola Triscott


Brandon during a research fieldtrip in Gunpowder Park, March 2007

Collaborators

An ARTS CATALYST Project

Yorkshire Sculpture Park is an international centre for modern and contemporary art. It is set in 500 acres of 18th century parkland. It is experienced by thousands of visitors each year, including students and members of the public of all ages and abilities who are engaged in its education and community programme.

Gunpowder Park is a new country park for the benefit of people, wildlife and the arts. With 90 hectares of land, the park is located at the top of Greater London, England, within the Lee Valley Regional Park. Gunpowder Park was created with a specific remit to provide an innovative programme of arts, science and nature. This programme is produced by Landscape+Arts Network Services.

Space provides affordable studios for visual artists and designers in London. Innovative programmes in media arts, exhibitions, community development collaborations, professional development and international residencies all encourage the prosperity of artists and the creativity of communities local to Space buildings.