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What the…very creative use of insects and….stuff. 
The prose describing the work is a bit florid, but the idea is really interesting:
“Once the stuff of science fiction, today flying and crawling insects are used by the military, fitted with audio and video devices. This exhibition experiments using real taxidermy beetles as mechanised shells, to show how we mistreat our fellow inhabitants, forcing them to do our will.”
I cover a lot of art-insect stuff here, but this one has simply reduced me to one word: WANT.
Julia Stoess apparently works at a German museum, and has perfected the art of making very large (30:1 or bigger) insect models. Check out her site for a gallery of some of her work; she also has photos of the process of making a tiger beetle.
Her comments:
“I have the privilege of working together closely with the Zoological Institute in Hamburg and various entomologists, to ensure that my models are scientifically correct.
After sketching and modelling the individual parts of the body, I take silicone moulds which in turn are cast in resin or laminated. Meticulous selection of the corresponding materials (ageing resistance, UV/synthetic light resistance) guarantees a practically unlimited service life for the model.I attach particular importance to details such as characteristic hairs and bristles, specific veining in the wings and original colouring.
The aim of my work is to achieve the greatest possible correspondence with the living animal.”
Yay, and congrats on her recent achievement of a World Taxidermy Award!
Liverpudlians, beware!
Commuters arriving at Liverpool’s Lime Street station were greeted by a 50ft (15m) high mechanical spider clinging to a nearby redundant office block. The 37-tonne beast heralds the start of a five-day piece of street theatre as part of the Capital of Culture year….
This statement probably caused some gnashing of chelicerae, though:
Helen Marriage, the producer of the show, said: ….”It has 50 axes of movement so all of it moves as you would expect an insect to move. [emphasis mine].
Ugh.
EDITED TO ADD: footage of the spider “awake” and stomping about town!
Courtesy of Stonehead, I discovered this lovely artwork by Paul Villinski: 
An artist making butterflies out of discarded beer cans. From the artist’s statement:
“A kind of conceptual unity develops between materials, process and imagery: my practice in the studio mimics the act of transformation that butterflies symbolize everywhere, in all cultures.
Our grandchildren will laugh in disbelief at the vast resources we squander, manufacturing a plastic bottle for a pint of water, or mining aluminum to surround 12 ounces of beer with metal. One generation’s trash will be another’s treasure. These littered beer cans are humble, but worthy materials, and it’s gratifying to take this “trash” and turn it into something of beauty and meaning.”
I had some trouble getting his site to work, but Happy Mundane has a whole bunch of larger format photos. Lovely!
I thought this would make a really nice Earth Day post. 
machine parts to make insects and other strange new life forms.From his profile:
“After earning a Bachelors Degree in Fine Art (BFA) from Pratt Institute, he entered the prosthetics field and began making artificial limbs for amputees in New York. Combining an abiding love for sculpture, medical science and biomechanics, the field enables Chris to apply his natural talents to help others in less fortunate situations, which he still does to this day.”
I think it’s very interesting that I now know of two artists that are making beautiful mechano-insects. What does this say about our view of insects that they so often are seen as aliens and mechanoids by artists and filmmakers?
