Gallery: An Art Show That Makes You Feel Like a Roach
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a Dutch design firm called [Knol](http://knol-ontwerp.nl/) has developed a Kafka-esque insect habitat that's equal parts scientific observatory, flea circus, and roach motel.
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The exhibit features approximately 80 bugs–cockroaches, field crickets, grasshoppers, and worms–though it's hard to provide an exact count since they skitter around so quickly.
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All the creepy-crawlers are contained in stylish, transparent homes.
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"It's a new, almost magical world in which crawling insects become actors in a theater piece," says Jorien Kemerink, one of Knol's principles.
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Overhead projectors illuminate the horrific habitats and project ominously oversized shadows on the walls.
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"By putting them in the houses, they get a stage with light and actual spectators," says Kemerink.
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The exhibit was inspired by Kafka's *Metamorphosis* and provides a glimpse of what could happen if an entire town's population, not just Gregor Samsa, transformed into bugs.
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The acrylic structures were laser cut and the edges were melted together to avoid unseemly glue marks—the inhabitants might be gross, but Knol wanted the structures to gleam.
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The linear forms had to be iconic representations in three dimensions, while also creating interesting patterns when projected on the walls.
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"Some bigger animals eat others once they start mingling," says Kemerink.
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A "bug bar" where patrons of the arts could partake in tempura insects or a larva-encrusted lollipop was a popular feature of the show.
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Kemerink notes that under normal conditions, the inhabitants of the plastic city would be used as reptile food and live in much smaller, less stylish boxes until they made their way to an iguana's gullet.
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For what it's worth, Kemerink is proud of the way they cared for their creepy charges. "We took care of them by giving them a water-gel to drink and some carrots to eat."
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The exhibition has drawn actual attacks from animal rights groups. "The activists thought the city was cruel and freed the insects, so they could run freely through the building," says Kemerink. "Of course some of them died under peoples feet and others scared some of the visitors."
