LE SCARABEE SACRE or BOUSIER
This sculpture is an order from the Ecomusée de la Forêt Méditerranéenne for their " Trésor Animal " exhibition.
Through large photos and sculptures of mediterranean species, the visitors are put in touch with the beauty and the fragility of the mediterranean landscape and the imperious need to preserve it.
BOUSIER, WHO ARE YOU ?
This small insect, repulsive at first - he feeds mainly on dung ! - becomes very endearing when observed closely.
His purpose is to eliminate excrements by eating them or creating balls of dung otherwise called pills.
In ancient Egypt, this pill represented the world. This food reserve is often buried in underground galeries, it is also the nest where the female will lay her eggs who later will feed on it until ready to come out some months later in the shape of a new sacred beetle.
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I can only recommend you to read "Le scarabée sacré; souvenirs entomologiques"by Jean-Henri FABRE and to consult his website (www.e-fabre.com) .
PRESENTATION
This sculpture represents a beetle and its ball in the making. He rolls it underneath his belly and moulds it with his legs. The ball will end up being 50 times as big as the beetle, who weights around 5 grams. To move it, he does so by using his front legs to push it backwards using his back legs to hold and turn it.
TECHNICAL ASPECTS
I have taken liberties with respect of the shape and form of the beetle, and although I have respected the size, the shape is voluntarily simplified.
The body is made of melted ciment which seemed to me the best material to represent the beetle armoured body The legs are made of copper and the antenae of .....
The ball , made of melted ciment as well, has been moulded in.................... to remind of the dung. The shape has been left uneven to represent his formation.
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