Superorganism – an arts installation set deep in a Snowdondia Forest. Hidden within the Coed y Brenin Forest Snowdonia are colonies of hairywood ants. It is their most southerly location in the UK and they build nests up to 7ft tall but are rarely observed.
In a new art installation called Superorganism Wales-based artist Alison Hayes has created a mesmerising experience in which images of millions of these ants are viewed ceaselessly at work through large-scale shimmering spheres. The installation begins in the newly built sustainable Coed y Brenin visitor centre as nighttime falls and leads out into a series of forest trails where the spheres are suspended between conifer trees in the forest. The spheres symbolise both ant nest and planet. The forest stretches out black and vast like a universe, with real stars above and the amplified real sounds from the forest filling the darkness around while the busy planets of ants actively glow within.
Hayes has spent the last year observing, filming and recording the actions of hairywood ant colonies. ‘Ants have inspired scientists, philosophers, artists, writers and sociologists to develop theories about the behaviour of ants in relation to human life,’ she observes. “Ants work collectively together, they have armies, make war, defend territories, hunt, farm other creatures, share food and build elaborate structures for their home”.
The installation’s title Superorganism is the scientific term used to determine the fact that ants can only thrive when grouped as a colony. Hayes notes ‘with apparently little individuality they operate as superorganisms and if you observe them closely over time you start considering human social interactions in a different way.’
The installation looks stunning as an artwork in its own right and offers to the viewer the closeup chance to observe and experience the strangeness of ants and other worlds within our world stimulating a consideration of the relative place of humans on the planet.
Alison Hayes is a video/sound/installation artist whose past works have explored themes relating to wildness. She often works with science specialists and has recorded images of migration and swarming patterns in birds and insects to create installations of arresting beauty which demand a contemplation on the nature of space and time.
Installation Event: Coed y Brenin Visitor Centre Saturday 13 February 2010 6-8pm
Hot Chocolate, drinks and food will be available at the opening night event. All welcome.
