Flies Staring at Each Other

Flies Staring at Each Other consists of fastidious replicas of houseflies staring at each other. The houseflies are each different and their positioning is overly geometrically precise; the flies are arranged in perfect formations that would be nearly impossible to find in nature. Flies do many things, but of course they don’t get into formation and stare each other in the eyes. Their eyes aren’t built for the kind of intense unidirectional looking that humans associate with curiosity, anger, or passion. They see in almost 360 degrees and they process visual information very quickly, so they see in slower motion than we do. This is what makes them so difficult for humans to swat.

 

Flies Staring at Each Other does not attempt to anthropomorphize flies, nor does it try to provoke empathy or understanding—rather, the works place the flies into highly artificial arrangements, recognizably human-made patterns. The series gently mocks our tendency to see our behaviors mirrored in other species. At the same time, it recognizes that misunderstanding does not inhibit symbiosis: we can get along with other species without even knowing it. Houseflies have developed to be so dependent on human habitation—and human trash—that they cannot live without us. They buzz around our homes on their own volution, reliant on us but out of our control. Despite the fact that we treat them as pests and intruders, we inadvertently help houseflies thrive. We can’t know exactly what they see, but we know that they inhabit our orderly structures and use them for their own purposes.