Ants Create “Sculpture” in Plexiglass

This “live” piece of art, by artist Brad Troemel, shows ants creating tunnels through multi-colored gel. The gel provides the ants with all of the necessary nutrients, so it’s up to the ants to complete their daily works. The artwork consists of nine clear plexiglass cartridges that hang from the ceiling. Since these are all transparent, viewers can watch the ants scurry around as they perform their daily tasks. They can even see these ants build the “sculpture” tunnels themselves.
Brad Troemel himself learned a few things.

Some people say ants build tunnels aimlessly, but those people haven’t watched ants for as long as I have. Ants tend to tunnel from the furthest ends of their homes downwards, eventually connecting all eight corners. I found the ants stopped digging as productively when placed in larger, 30” x 22” homes.

Between art, science and zoology!