虫の生活 “Life of Insects”

From 2021 to 2024, I participated in the “Fundamentalz Program,” a project designed to foster collaboration between scientists and artists. I was paired with the biologist Shuichiro Tomita, and together we developed a project titled “Life of Insects”.
This project began when I started raising silkworms and became fascinated by the sculptural forms of their frass. As I continued my research, I learned that silkworm frass has traditionally been consumed as a type of herbal medicine. This led me to wonder what the frass of other insects might taste like, and I began collecting and tasting various kinds.
Through these experiments, I discovered that some were bitter while others were aromatic—flavors closely linked to the insects’ food plants. At the same time, I also realized that even when insects feed on the same plant, the flavor of their frass differs depending on the species.
While exploring taste, I also grew interested in the pigments contained in frass. When extracted with hot water, frass from different insects produces similar colors if they share the same food source, yet the way these pigments spread on paper varies. Using both the characteristics of the paper and those of the frass, I created a series of drawings.

I have long felt a sense of loneliness in knowing that I cannot truly understand the worlds of living beings so different from myself. As a way of resisting that distance, I decided to use every aspect of my own sensory experience in an attempt to approach an insect’s point of view. This intention lies at the core of “Life of Insects”.
The project consists of several components: a display of insect frass, drawings, glass tubes, and a workshop.