People get creative with art made of cicada shells as summer revs up
The art is inspired by a 2018 sculpture based on classic Japanese monsters
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Some people have come up with a creative solution for the flood of cicada shells that have cropped up across the country – with monster-inspired art.
The species – Brood X – have descended on states across the eastern and southern U.S. after a 17-year hiatus. Trillions of the insects will deposit their shells in states including Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Normally, residents have no choice but deal with the shells wherever they go: Stuck to trees, scattered across the ground, wherever bugs might go.
However, a recently rediscovered art piece from 2018 has spurred others to similar creative pursuit.
Twitter user @Ride_Hero_ created a giant monster-inspired creature out of dozens or even hundreds of cicada shells. The monster takes inspiration from old Japanese monster movies and shows, like Godzilla, Ultraman or Super Sentai – the show that Power Rangers is based on.
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The striking sculpture inspired similar work from other artists: Twitter user @YizzyYu created a replica of a Xenomorph from the Alien movie franchise.
"They’re evolving!" she tweeted. "Getting ready for the coming cicada emergence with some art inspiration from ride_hero’s creations and other cicada shell artists out there."
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The art is so unbelievable that Snopes ran a fact-check on the art, confirming that, yes, people are harvesting hundreds of shed cicada shells to make monster sculptures.
For those curious, user @rlavemmN8fX18pY showed a step-by-step of how he made a cicada statue of classic Ultraman monster Baltan in Oct. 2020.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Some people have taken a more mainstream approach and simply created art inspired by cicadas.
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In Baltimore, artists created life-size painted cicadas, cicada statues and chalk art on sidewalks.