Swamps and Ropes
Lindsey Adelman, Kristin Barron, Michiko Sakano and I are collaborating on new Lindsey Adelman Studio pieces for The Future Perfect (opening to be in May), and they are going to be delicious. The most elegant weird swamp things. Process photos of dying rope.
Prettiest ants ever.
The New York Times published a story yesterday about Anna Dornaus’ work with social insects, specifically the Temnos ant. In order to follow each individual of the colony, she anesthetized each ant for long enough to paint each one of them with a unique pattern of dots. Alex Wild took the most beautiful photo of the most beautiful ants.
The painted ants are just the beginning — I think both Dornhaus and Wild are definitely worth a longer look. Here are their links, just in case they aren’t working in the above text:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/28/science/28prof.html?emc=eta1
Death by fungus
I’ve been incorporating crystals into the bug monsters. Here’s a snapshot of one, there will be more photos coming soon.
The growth of the crystals on the bugs reminds me of something I’ve seen before: fungal infections which kill insects. Apparently the fungal spores get into the insect’s brain and take control over their brains; the fungus causes them to stop everything to perform one last action — climb up a branch and take a bite to affix themselves, for instance. The fungus then begins to grow using the insect as a host. As morbid as this is, the results are really quite beautiful in some cases. What I also find fascinating is the symbiotic and species-specific relationship between a particular insect and fungus. This means the shape of the fungus is always informed by the same insect. Some photos below, stolen from the Neurophilosophy blog. Link to full post is below photos.
http://neurophilosophy.wordpress.com/2006/11/20/brainwashed-by-a-parasite/
Polaroids!
I am newly obsessed with my Polaroid Land Camera and its tendency for the negative (the peel-off part you’re supposed to throw away) to be much more beautiful than the photo (the part you’re supposed to keep). A few of my favorites from the last few weeks:
More to come…
In the process of getting the blog up and running. Intend to use it as a place to show what’s in process in the studio, interesting research, or even failed attempts.
In the meantime…a crystals-in-the-works photo. I’ve been experimenting with bringing the natural back into the bug monsters. Interesting in how the crystals require giving up control of a process that is so detail-oriented otherwise. I also like thinking of the crystals in terms of an infection with a life of its own.
