Fire Ants (Solenopsis genus), #043, 10/19/2013, 17.9 lbs., Aluminium, 18x 12x 13
The artist makes castings of anthills by
using melted aluminum to fill their tunnels and chambers. After waiting
for the aluminum to cool, he digs around the anthill to loosen the
earth. The result is an astonishing sculpture showing the complex detail
of the anthill’s architecture. This is then mounted on a wooden stand,
either right-side up or upside down depending upon the artist’s
aesthetic judgment. Each one contains a rust-resistant steel plaque upon
which information about the model and a unique casting number are
inscribed.
Fire Ants (Solenopsis genus), #033, 8/10/2013, 20.8 lbs., Aluminium, 17 x13 x14
Carpenter Ants (Camponotus genus), #030, 6/14/2013, 2.3 lbs., Aluminium, 19x 16x 11
Originally from the southeast United
States, the artist is also a civil engineer and expresses a lively
interest in multiple scientific disciplines, especially biology. This is
what inspired this work and caused him to start pouring aluminum as a
hobby.
Fire Ants (Solenopsis genus), #009, 2/23/2013, 16.6 lbs., Aluminium, 13″x12″x13
Fire Ants (Solenopsis genus), #047, 12/20/2013, 8.8 lbs., Aluminium, 13x 8.5x 12.5
He mainly creates castings of fire ant
colonies but has also discovered other types of ants on his property.
The variation of the colony structure between different types of ants is
particularly interesting in the eyes of the artist, who is always
hoping to discover something new. He has notably been able to use his
castings to observe that red ant colonies consist of a matrix of
interconnected tunnels and chambers, whereas those of carpenter ants are
usually formed around a single tunnel with a small number of chambers
that branch off from it. He claims to have also found other even more
fascinating structural variations in other types of ant colonies, which
he hopes to make available on his site soon.
Fire Ants (Solenopsis genus), #006, 1/20/2013, 5.9 lbs., Aluminium, 10x 9x 11
Carpenter Ants (Camponotus genus), #031, 6/14/2013, 2.3 lbs., Aluminum, 16.5 x4.5 x8
As far as the more controversial aspects
of his artistic process, the artist asserts that he has limited himself
to colonies on his land and has remained limited in his castings. The
red ants present on his property (fire ants) are dangerous and reproduce
uncontrollably because they have no natural predators. There are thus
hundreds of colonies over a space of several acres. Most people who have
a yard kill them with poison and other methods, and the artist claims
that he has never heard anyone oppose the practice until he started
posting his videos online, at which point certain people expressed
lively opposition to the process of annihilating an ant colony to create
these castings.
American scientists are in fact
trying to reduce the number of these ants, which were introduced from
South America and have a harmful effect on local species. Furthermore,
small farmers frequently use boiling water to kill them. As far as other
types of ants are concerned, the artist limits himself even further in
his castings, though there are still a relatively high number on his
property. Though his process is not beyond criticism, it is undeniable
that these castings allow for the appreciation of beauty that would
otherwise remain hidden underground. The artist aesthetically
materializes the architectural sophistication that insects create and,
through comparison, allows for the observation of each anthill’s
specificity.
Fire Ants (Solenopsis genus), #025, 5/31/2013, 10.7 lbs., Aluminium, 14.5x 10.5x 11
Fire Ants (Solenopsis genus), #020, 5/18/2013, 4.25 lbs., Aluminum, 8.5″x5.5″x8
By thus accentuating the ants’
creations, the artist reveals to the viewer the aesthetic elements of
the insects’ works that are otherwise considered harmful and are even
exterminated. If his artistic. http://www.anthillart.com/
(translated byAnna Provitola)
