Methuselah

In late summer and fall, millions of monarchs in southern Canada and the northern United States embark on a two-month trek south to seek a warmer climate. This migration is essential to their survival during the winter months, when they stop to hibernate in the remote fir forests (oyamel) of the mountains of central Mexico. In February and March, they awaken and begin the return home, laying millions of eggs along the way before dying. Methuselah virtually reproduces the 6,139-mile (9,880-kilometer) migratory journey of a monarch butterfly, tracking its travel during its annual reproductive cycle. The epic journey is hosted and reproduced in real time on this app, which was developed for the project. Here, audiences can monitor the route of a single monarch butterfly.

Working with butterfly experts, taxidermists, animators, computer modelers, and software designers for over a year, artist Reynier Leyva Novo translated the methuselah monarch butterfly from an analog specimen into a digital animation. The virtual avatar can be observed 24 hours a day during a one-year cycle. Seen moving against a black backdrop, the butterfly flutters, flies, feeds, and rests with the ease and delicacy of a real insect. At any given time, the software program determines the butterfly’s movements in space, drawing upon numerous data points related to monarch migration patterns. No single observed motion is exactly the same. This presentation offers users a privileged and unprecedented look at a day in the life of a single monarch butterfly, a phenomenon that until recently was impossible to observe or track.

The Message
Methuselah carries a message of environmental preservation, calling for the protection of a natural species at risk of extinction. It also speaks to our contemporary, post-pandemic moment. Created during the 2020 global COVID-19 crisis, Methuselah acknowledges the false security of borders and the necessity of transnational cooperation and coordination for planetary survival. The project is a hopeful demonstration of the power of art to cross seemingly impenetrable national and geo-political boundaries. It proposes new modalities of intercultural exchange. The soft diplomacy of the monarch, as well as its perseverance, offer a poignant metaphor for our twenty-first-century existence. Users will be able to follow the path of a single methuselah specimen as it moves through its journey. Imaged against a black alpha background, the only indication of time to viewers is the light illuminating the butterfly’s wings. In avoiding any reference to location other than the accompanying animated map and infographics, the animation also offers a view free of national borders and the legacies of conflict, domination, and contestation they contain and enact.

The Technology
The technology used in the making of Methuselah is Unity, a video game development tool. The C# programming language –object-oriented for the .NET Framework platform–, has been used in the creation of the avatar and its movements. The simulation of the monarch's path on a real map has been recreated using the tools provided by Mapbox, an open-source mapping platform that provides access to online libraries such as OpenStreetMap and NASA. This, integrated with online weather services, has made it possible to provide greater realism and accuracy to the route. The final compilation for the website was created using WebGL, a standard library implemented in JavaScript for rendering 3D graphics within any web browser. The combination of these technologies has allowed for the optimal completion of the site for user access.

METHUSELAH, 2021-22
A digital artwork created by Reynier Leyva Novo
Commissioned by El Museo del Barrio, New York
With generous support from VIA Art Fund

Curators: Olga Viso | Susanna Temkin
Developer: Oreste Enrique Riquenes Peña

For more information, please visit the desktop site www.methuselahmonarch.com