The Bemis Center for Contemporary Artsrecently opened a new exhibit called Brandon Ballengee: Collapse.
Nicole Caruth is the Artistic Director for Exhibitions and Public Engagement. Caruth says Collapse is an installation of 370 species from the gulf coast region.
She says Ballengee created the installation in response to the 2010 British Petroleum oil spill. Caruth says more than 26,000 preserved specimens are on display.
Ballengee is not only an artist but also a biologist and this installation brings together both of his practices.
"It’s all the jars on a platform and they rise up in a pyramid structure and then around the central installation are some other works that are also based on the artist’s studies of amphibian deformities.”
Caruth says there are also empty jars in the exhibit that represent species that are either declining or are already lost to extinction. Collapse is on view at the Bemis through October 10th.