The US artist Catherine Chalmers creates work at the intersection of nature and culture, often centring on humanity’s complicated relationship with the insect world. Antworks is a unique artistic collaboration between Chalmers and a colony of leafcutter ants found on the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica. For the short film, Chalmers captured these ants cutting, stripping and carrying leaves from a colourful plant that she had set them upon. Per Chalmers, these resulting leaf fragments looked like ‘tiny Abstract Expressionist paintings’ once separated from their source. The resulting short is an amusing, strangely riveting contemplation of the minds – and perhaps even aesthetic sensibilities – of these fascinating creatures.
Via Kottke
Director: Catherine Chalmers
videoNature and landscape
Scenes from Aboriginal Australian pottery chart the turn of the seasons
7 minutes
videoHistory of science
Insect aesthetics – long viewed as pests, in the 16th century bugs became beautiful
8 minutes
videoLove and friendship
What does it mean to say goodbye to a creature that doesn’t know you’re leaving?
13 minutes
videoNature and landscape
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videoArt
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videoEcology and environmental sciences
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videoArt
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8 minutes
videoFilm and visual culture
Space and time expand, contract and combust in this propulsive animation
5 minutes
videoLanguage and linguistics
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9 minutes