Monstrous Vermin

Monstrous Vermin is a participatory fibers installation piece originally built for Youtopia 2019. Riffing on the Burning Man 2019 theme of “Metamorphoses” (Ovid), this piece references the first line of Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis,” which reads “Gregor Samsa awoke in his bed to discover he’d been transformed into a monstrous vermin.” Beneath a titular sign hang 5 wearable stuffed animal beetles and a pile of giant stuffed animal larva. The participant is encouraged to wear the beetles and cuddle in the larva. At the end of the event, participants were encouraged to take a larvae home with them as a memory.