My sister has an irrational fear of butterflies (which is quite funny at times) so she may not visit this installation. But, if you like the tiny winged creatures, than you will really love this work by Japanese artist Eiji Watanabe. He literally frees thousands of the delicate animals from the constraints of field guides in this project entitled A Butterfly’s Eye View. The artist cuts each butterfly from book illustrations and gives them new life by delicately pinning each one to walls and ceilings. Swarms of all kinds of butterfly species fill the room in a creative, yet organized, installation.
It is interesting to note the artist’s choice of placement. Unlike a room filled with lively butterflies, there is plenty of uniform space between each animal so that the beauty, size, color, and wingspan can be appreciated on an individual basis. Watanabe’s unique presentation is a way of liberating the butterflies not only from the constraints of the page, but also from the constraints of the field guide classifications. In doing so, Watanabe gives each inanimate, paper object new and unconstrained life that is so realistic that visitors may expect the creatures to burst into flight at any moment.
