Biston betularia is a peppered moth that takes its name from the habit to rest on the trunks of birches, trees with white bark.
With the advent of the industrial revolution began to be released into the atmosphere large quantities of dark dust arising from the combustion of coal, the main fuel for industrial machinery at that time. In the industrial areas, the bark of trees (including birch), began to become darker because of the carbon in the air.
The effect of this environmental change, caused the melanic forms of the Biston betularia (ie Biston carbonaria, darker in color) that acquired an advantage camouflage on the clear one. The white one survived, but the darker became numerically dominant fast enough.
This phenomenon – known as “industrial melanism” – has been of great help in understanding the mechanisms of natural selection lighting and today he serves as a litmus test of pollution.
Exploring the history of this peppered moth, we can understand the different nature of the transformation as an art(ificial) way to survive and as a result of human greed.
This project consists also of a video (3:00, loop) made up of all photos in stop-motion framed up in a recording of a burning coal stove:
The Title “Everything makes sense in the reverse” is a quote from Jean Baudrillard’s book “Fragments. Cool memories III, 1990-1995”.