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Carla
Bengtson

By
For
and With
Other Species

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Dutch Boy #Z-68 Aqua Electra

Atta sexdens ant tracks in ink on Dutch Boy paint sample, 2.5” x 2.5”, 2009

During a residency at the Tiputini Biodiversity Station in the Amazon I offered Dutch Boy “Home Decorator” series paint samples, along with non-toxic ink, to a colony of leaf cutter ants.

Double Dutch

Archival digital print of Dutch Boy #Z-68 Aqua Electra, 72” x 72”, 2010

The following year, I enlarged the print to human-scale, showing the dried ink and half-tone dots of the paint sample from the ant’s point of view, and returned with it to the original site. The 72”x72” print was then torn into pieces and “fed” to the colony of leaf cutters.
Play Video

The Taste of Blue

Video, 2013

Video clip showing some of the ants collecting the pieces and bringing them into the nest, while others are removing them.
Play Video

The Taste of Blue

Video, 2013

Video clip of ants bringing print pieces into the nest.
Play Video

The Taste of Blue

Installation view, White Box Gallery, Portland, OR, 2012 2 Video projections, print remnants, paint sample, magnifying glass.

Gallery 1: Video projection of ants cutting and collecting print pieces, projected over print fragments.

The Taste of Blue

Installation view, White Box Gallery, Portland, OR, 2013

Trail of torn pieces leads up the wall from one room to another, ending up at the nest video.

The Taste of Blue

Installation view, White Box Gallery, Portland, OR, 2013

Gallery 2: Video projection of ants bringing print pieces into their nest, projected over print fragments.
z 68 aqua electra ii  digital reproduction
the taste of blue - video 1
the taste of blue - video 2
installation
installation2
blue install nest
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carlabengtson@icloud.com

© All Rights Reserved 2022

carlabengtson@icloud.com

© All Rights Reserved 2022