The Illusion of Orderly Progress

  • Barbara Norfleet
Knopf $20

The Illusion of Orderly Progress (Knopf, $20) is a collection of entomological compositions by the artist Barbara Norfleet. In the foreword, E. O. Wilson describes Norfleet's work as part of the tradition of animal fables which allows human nature to be scrutinized dispassionately. In the piece “My tribe is better than your tribe” (above), shining leaf chafer beetles (Chrysina macropus) confront metallic wood-boring beetles (Euchroma gigantea gigantea). In “The myth of coupling” (right), the two metallic wood-boring beetles (centre) are otherwise engaged while the single shining leaf chafer beetle straddles the stone alone. Norfleet is director and curator of the photography collection at the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts at Harvard.