American Cockroach

Catherine Chalmers's second Aperture monograph invites us to meditate on the pleasures and terrors of the common domestic pest, Periplaneta americana, also known as the American cockroach. In three different series of photographs - "Infestations," "Imposters," and "Executions" - Chalmers challenges us to reconsider how we distinguish between creepy infestation and acceptable nature. With a slightly B-movie quality, the images push us to think carefully about the ways in which we determine some creatures to be lovable and others best squashed under a shoe. This latest book breaks new ground for the artist; in addition to her photographs, American Cockroach also presents stills from Chalmers's videos; her drawings, constructed out of antennae, wings, and other cockroach parts; and installation shots of her sculpture on the same topic. Taken together, this collection of images dares us to rethink nature as an extension of human life - or human life as an extension of nature.