The Taste of Blue
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.
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.
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.
