Insect Encounters brings together two distinct bodies of video artwork by artist and filmmaker Catherine Chalmers: the American Cockroach series and the Leafcutters quadrilogy. The five films of American Cockroach capture a surreal and at times hauntingly anthropomorphic view of the contemporary cockroach, using intricate set design and immersive macro cinematography to trace a path from the creature’s chaotic life in the wild to a bizarre yet equally hostile existence inside modern kitchens and bathrooms. Meanwhile, the four Leafcutters videos are an unusual and mesmerizing collaboration with millions of wild ants, filmed in Panama and Costa Rica. The series focuses on four supposedly unique human traits – language, ritual, war, and art – and the narrative themes aim to blur the boundaries between human society and leafcutter ants, a species described as “the most complex social creatures other than humans.”

The films will be followed by a Q & A and a conversation with artist Catherine Chalmers, Ann Arbor Film Festival Director Leslie Raymond, and Curator Amanda Krugliak.

Chalmer's exhibition Conifer Trees, Bark Beetles, and Fire is on view at the Institute for the Humanities Gallery Sept. 11 - Oct. 24. For complete details and more related events visit https://lsa.umich.edu/humanities/gallery/current-exhibitions/catherine-chalmers.html.

Catherine Chalmers is the Jean Yokes Woodhead Visiting Artist at the Institute for the Humanities.