October 2024
The Purple Emperor Butterfly Legacy Project
In this October blog, I want to report on the Dorisarty Butterfly Ephemeral Installation which took place on 20th September 2024, at 10am, on Leigh Cliffs East. Created by Dorisarty, and filmed by Damon Burgoyne, with sculptures handcrafted mostly from recycled materials, made by many participants of all ages. Please read my August blog to find out about Dorisarty, the Community Art Project, and how the butterfly sculptures were created.
Disastrously for the environment, the weather conditions this summer have affected the butterfly population in the UK. On the morning of the Ephemeral Installation, it was overcast, but thankfully not wet! Weather is always a worry when planning site-specific art. An unforeseen complication did arise as we arrived at the planned area of the Leigh-On-Sea cliffs, because all summer the grasses and dandelions had been left to grow wild, and these had unexpectedly been freshly cut back. Leaving areas of wild growth encourages many species and a yearly cut back is often typical. You can see the difference in the photographs and the artist’s impression sketched in August.
A new site was found, not far away, this had an area of dead plants and bramble – this looked like copper and silver as it caught the light amongst the bright green grasses and weeds. Part of the whole project is bringing awareness to butterfly conservation, especially due to the large decline in their numbers, so this area was perfect for the installation: it evoked wild beauty. The addition of carefully attaching the purple butterfly sculptures brought a fleeting moment of a different type of aesthetic beauty, echoing the short life span of the real creatures’ lives. The Ephemeral Installation commented on life and death, how human behaviour affects our environment, and questions how we could change our practices and help conserve these delicate, essential creatures. The artwork is multifaceted and draws attention to important social and cultural issues, and Dorisarty invites the viewer to make one’s own connection. The Installation was up for about an hour and then carefully dismantled. Nothing was left behind. All the butterflies will be on display in an exhibition in the Leigh-On-Sea Community Centre Café in December. You can follow Dorisarty on Instagram: dorisarty_art
31st October 2024.