The bees’ knees A Collective banner day at SPACE BY MAGGIE KNOWLES

One trait that comes with living in the richest country in the world is guilt. As in "You better eat all that tripe. There are starving babies in (country x) that are dreaming of being so lucky as you." Daily, we are inundated with images and stories of how (undeservingly?) fortunate we are and that, given the chance, everyone on the planet would choose to live here. Or so some media outlets would have us believe. Yet there are two sides to every "streets are paved with gold" myth, and the Beehive Collective’s current showing at SPACE is all about exposing what a tyrannical beast the US really is.

The Bees are a volunteer-artist-activist bunch that works in a restored farmer’s meeting hall up/down there in Machias. Operating on the optimistic theory of consensus (no Queen Bees here) this Animal Farm of sorts has garnered international attention for collectively producing massive demonstration banners that focus on globalization and militarization. The Bees chose their focus for particular banners via the Bee Cross Pollination project. Over the span of five months, 10 Bees traveled to gather stories of resistance from over 180 groups and individuals. Eventually, these dialogues will be available as bilingual radio programs.

Back at the Hive, the busy bees got to work creating a narrative of their findings. When a master is completed, it is scanned and heat blasted onto material made from recycled soda bottles. The highly resilient outcomes are donated to activist groups in order to spread awareness that their land is being raped and pillaged by money-hungry corporations. The two-and-a half narratives (the "half" has run of out "honey" and Bees are buzzing about trying to raise 18K more) showing at SPACE depict the corporate colonialism that is happening in Central and South America.

Should you see these works, bring along last week’s Liquor Issue — you’ll need hefty swigs of happy babble to balance the dense, dark, and overwhelming banners. While it is clear that many Bees come to this project with a background in art, I don’t consider these banners art in their own right; they are too comic-booky. And while they are very informative, the point seems to be to give a quick stab to the issue at hand during rallies and such. I spent over 45 minutes dissecting one banner, and I am still unsure of what it was trying to tell me — not effective as a marketing tool.

That aside, let’s narrate the plot of the banners. And I must be honest first: The only reason I can speak to this is because I found a helpful pamphlet (thank god) that guides one through the story. "Plan Colombia" spits in the direction of US foreign policy and corporate monoculture. In a fascinating way, it attempts to reveal that the whole drug war is just a cover up so rich corporations can extract valuable resources from the Amazon. I do love a good conspiracy theory. Evil insects (cleverly drawn as W.A.S.P.s) bring Western medicine, the Bible, small pox, white man’s law, and slave ants over from Europe. Larvae from the WASPs include TV/computer-addicted fatties; the Mall of the America’s larvae, looking pleased after a sweatshop shopping spree; and Bush’s close buddy, the oil-baron larvae. Meanwhile, swarms of metal-armored insects descend upon South America in the name of Plan Colombia, which is a multi-billion dollar military operation for the War on Drugs, now the War Against Terrorism. The point here being how ironic it is that the US is using terrorism (again) as an excuse for war.

The theme that spoke to me most from this banner is how awful fumigation is for the land and people. Since it is quite impossible from the air to pinpoint just the coca crops for dusting, the farmers and their animals get nailed with these horrible chemicals. This results are the displacement of millions of campesinos and indigenous peoples from their homes. Then this land is open for corporations to extract the valuable natural resources.

The uncompleted "Plan Puebla America" banner also deals with the displacement of farmers through consolidation and urbanization. The cycle here depicts the ministry of agriculture (one guess as to whom they are in bed with) offering little farmer bees a small parcel of land. The bees end up losing the land because when they bring their food to market, they compete with US subsidized crops. Guess whose goods are cheaper. The farmer cannot afford to keep his farm, so US corporations sweep in, buy it for nothing, and then grow genetically engineered crops. Round and round we go. No wonder we are hated, huh?

Though I won’t call these banners art, there is no doubt the Bees have a great mission and are really incredible people for dedicating their time for this cause. The buzz that this exhibit creates is very important even if you leave feeling like you’ve just been stung.

Maggie Knowles can be reached at margaretknowles@yahoo.com

"Cross-Pollinating the Grassroots," works by the Beehive Design Collective, shows at SPACE, in Portland, through May 27. Call (207) 828-5600.