Robo-Insects Demonstrate What Happens When Nature & Art Collide

There are so many dopey things that I used to do when I was growing up on the East coast. With so much time on hand and an ever plentiful array of insects at my disposal, things went from bad to cruel and unusual the more bored I got.

I don't believe that I was a particularly devilish child, but I never really comprehended how many lives I was snuffing out each time I performed makeshift dissections or removed wings and examined them in the sunlight.

One thing I never thought to do, however, was outfit assorted creepy crawlies with watch parts and gears -- that is something that artist Mike Libby cooked up all on his own.

His Insect Lab focuses on upgrading the carcasses of found and internationally sourced "non-endangered" specimens from all corners of the world with antique bits and pieces from typewriters, wrist and pocketwatches and sewing machines. And he IS an adult, just in case you were wondering...perhaps a somewhat warped adult?

Creating, in essence, miniature archival recycled sculptural works that are displayed under glass domes on fine wooden bases, Libby has cornered the market on a highly unique type of household adornment which might be considered very green or very disturbing or all the above.

Like a traffic accident, his insect works make you want to look...not once, not twice, but multiple times...you can't help but wonder what kind of a sick, twisted (ahem, "creative") mind would come up with something like this...and yet the artist appears to be pretty clean cut and cheerful.

Good for Monsieur Libby -- I suppose that he's found his calling...nothing wrong with that, however subversive it may seem. At least he's not performing full blown insect autopsies and plastinating them!

Just wondering what everyone thinks of this form of recycling...