Mattress Factory: Jennifer Angus' "The Museum of All Things"

“A street view into Jennifer Angus’ installation reveals the ethereal figures of insects adrift in jars of radiant, floral-tinted solutions. Like stained glass windows that filter out harshness, they infuse the room and all that it shelters with a sense of sacred quietude. A vast collection of natural history specimens and cultural artifacts spill across the space. This presentation recalls those private museums known as “cabinets of curiosities” showcased from the Renaissance through Baroque and Victorian periods. . .

. . . For Angus, the scene represents an ideal for humans to aspire to: an invitation to work out differences and solve problems congenially, over a shared meal. Inside glass cases, small worlds within worlds show self-aware, dressed-up insects, viewing Victorian-era microscope slides of their fellow insects as if reliving family memories. A multitude of other dried and preserved, patterned and colorful insects who once traversed the terrains and flew the skies of far-off places appear here everywhere. They rest under bell jars amid delicate beeswax flowers and alight on walls in formations that mimic decorative designs. This vision carries nostalgic impressions of summer and its finale, of hearing cicadas in the sun, like dreams that rise and fade – songs for a world that’s passing away.

Angus seeks to encourage us to save this endangered world we share with insects, whose existence and our own are inextricably entwined. The Museum of All Things focuses on insects because Angus understands that they are everything to us; without them, humankind could not survive past six weeks on Earth. They are vital connectors in the food chain for all life forms; pollinating our crops and enabling necessary decomposition for environmental continuity. Yet, because of our short-sighted ravages, their rapid population decline is a serious global problem. Entire ecosystems are being destroyed as insects are threatened by pesticides, loss of habitat and climate change. In her work, Angus brings attention to our urgent need to safeguard these essential creatures. The installation highlights their intricate beauty and encourages empathy with them while critiquing our follies with parables that remind us of the fragile mortality we share with the living world. A striking image appearing on a wall here reveals a gathering of insects that form into the outline and features of a human skull. Its spectral presence emanates a chilling warning for us to protect our home and all we hold dear within it before time runs out.”