Climate change, soil pollution, and various other factors are contributing to a global decline in plant life and the collapse of ecosystems. Paleoclimatology relies on “natural archives” such as pollen records to reconstruct lost flora and predict future climate dynamics.

Anca Benera & Arnold Estefán collect pollen grains from arid regions on the brink of desertification, preserving a botanical record of vanishing flora. These samples, which may serve as future scientific material, reflect their interest in pollen as a paleoclimatic proxy and the vital role of pollinators like bees in sustaining ecosystems. The potential loss of bees poses an existential threat to life on Earth. Inspired by the fact that the first-ever recorded sounds were etched onto beeswax cylinders, they use this connection to reflect on today’s environmental collapse.

For IMAGINE CLIMATE DIGNITY, Benera & Estefán collaborate with Pavel Brăila and a community of honeybees (Apis mellifera) to create a music record made of beeswax. The record, fragile by nature, can be played only a finite number of times, with each use wearing away a layer of its material memory until it dissolves into silence.

→ Anca Benera & Arnold Estefán

→ Pavel Brăila (Instagram)