A record that features the sound of 40,000 bees will go on sale from 20 May 2025, as Wolfgang Buttress – creator of Bees: A Story of Survival at World Museum, Liverpool – releases the hauntingly beautiful exhibition soundscape ‘TO BE’.
Acting as the main aural element of the exhibition, which is now on until 28 September 2025, ‘TO BE’ takes listeners on a reflective journey to develop and strengthen humankind’s fragile relationship with nature.
The artist has also announced performances at Rough Trade venues in in Liverpool (22 May) and London (23 May), alongside Spiritualized artists Kevin Bales and Tony Foster.
‘TO BE’ is the first album release from Karman Line Collective. Written and recorded by artist Wolfgang Buttress with Kevin Bales and Tony Foster (Spiritualized, Julian Cope) and Justin Goodyer. The album is a phenomenal, immersive soundscape for Buttress’ latest art installation BEES: A Story of Survival. This multi-sensory exhibition highlights the essential role these ingenious pollinators play within the planet’s ecosystems, as well as the existential threat faced by both bees and humanity alike due to our mistreatment of the planet.
Featuring a chorus of 40,000 bees, ‘TO BE’ uses and manipulates samples of field recordings taken from hives across the globe during critical research into the communication patterns of bee species.
It builds on and evolves the group’s previous work on The Hive and develops it as one of the exhibition’s main narrative devices. Buttress has likened moving through the exhibition to following the contours of a song: verse, chorus, verse, chorus, middle eight, drop, chorus, chorus – much like how the eight installations in the piece meld into and inform each other. The music – along with light, sound, projection and scent – take the visitor on an emotional and sensorial journey into the secret world of bees.
Created over three years of writing and recording, ‘TO BE’ beautifully combines previously unheard recordings of bee communications with deeply enveloping meditative music. These unique bee communication sounds are used as raw musical stems within the composition; some are processed through guitar pedals to augment the music creating an entirely new library of sounds. Throughout the record, the listener will hear bees communicating in various ways, from the vibrations produced by their famous ‘waggle dance,’ to the sounds melittologists refer to as bees’ tooting, quacking and purring.
Wolfgang Buttress, said: “The process of creating the soundscape for Bees: A Story of Survival has taken over three years. I have been working with some of the world’s pre-eminent bee experts to source both new bee sounds and filmed footage.
“There was a deliberate and conscious decision to use analogue instruments as a foil and compliment to the bee sounds – cello, guitar, trumpet, harmonica and the human voice. The hope is that these two worlds inform, speak to and harmonise with each other, to create an impactful, peculiar and emotionally affecting outcome.”
The soundscape functions as one of the main narrative devices in Bees: A Story of Survival. The music, along with light, sound, projection and scent take the visitor on an emotional and sensorial journey into the secret world of bees. Led by changing soundscapes, visitors embark on a journey through eight immersive rooms. Using sounds and scents, visitors follow a trail from trees to digital wildflower meadows, highlighting the impact of bees as pollinators of the natural world.
A fusion of art, science, technology and incorporating film from the international scientific community, Bees: A Story of Survival brings to life what it is like to see and hear like a bee. The exhibition imagines and dramatically highlights the devastating impact of a world without these fascinating and essential creatures, and offers a message of hope for the future.
Bees: A Story of Survival runs at World Museum, part of National Museums Liverpool, is now open until the new closing date of Sunday 28 September. The exhibition is sponsored by lead partner Radisson RED.
Merseyside residents can access a 25% discount by booking exhibition tickets in advance via the National Museums Liverpool website, with the code LCR25.
For more information visit: www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/