Claustrum Chrysalis — Laura Skehan

Claustrum Chrysalis (2022)
Single channel video with audio
Duration 5m 05s

Claustrum Chrysalis is a single channel moving image and audio work, filmed at the Cambridge Butterfly Glasshouse in Malahide Castle, Dublin. The work is filmed at different stages of the year, showcasing the activity of the butterflies in different conditions within a microcosm of the Glasshouse.

Examining politics of display, the work questions the necessity of a butterfly house as a source of entertainment, creating a sort of 'lifespan spectacle'. Prompting an investigation into individualism, capitalism and the ecological crisis caused from pre-existing colonial structures, the work critically points to exoticism through playing with colour tone, attempting to draw our attention to how methods used in cinema and visual culture can manipulate our experience of situations.

Exhibited at ‘Confliction’ Malahide Castle Dublin IRE and at Homelands 10 Year, programmed by Loop Festival at Alalimon Gallery, Barcelona, ES.

Image credit: Louis Haugh