Having visited the woods again yesterday I am very excited to continue further with the ants.

I am visualising an ant hill created with words...these words, possibly in the form or tiny pellets of clay will stand within the setting with the intention of words being 'tidied' or taken away by visitors of the event. A labour intensive process, allowing the performative, of creating these pellets as a representation of the labour of the ants creating their hill, under their own management and not mans.

Using paper initially is helping to see possibilities of layout.
I need to decide on a support for the words which will be sited within the woods at Bovey Tracey - they need to be strong enough, if that is required, to last the week. I need to play with material types next, and then consider scale...micro or macro? And also positioning, ground level, eye level or above? Keeping an 'ant' connection I would be looking at ground level to begin with.

Experimenting with the ways the words could be displayed.

Words cut out and placed representing a typical ant path.

The Queen ant can be 12mm in length whereas the rest of the colony are slightly smaller....so I am going to create the words to this size...I think!!.........


a colony of words...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/adaptations/Colony_(biology)#p003ld40

Acid attack From Life in the Undergrowth Wood ants hunt down other insects and spray acid in defence. Sourced on 17th September 2012

Need to work on this text idea....

redo list
print
cut out 
play with positioning


could I use the words in such a way that the ants will be able to interact with it?

words could be presented in rings, as the rings of the trees. the form could also be a representation of an ant hill.

words hung from trees along the path that was taken 

words on what?
            paper
            leaves
            glass
            what was mined in the area?...could words be embossed into that metal type
            stitching the words
            woods carved into wood
            created with twigs
            acrylic
            handwritten
            typed
            stencilled
            

Formica rufa (Red Wood Ant)

Another common British ant are those belonging to the species Formica, also known as the’Wood Ant’. Many of these species build huge mounds from pine needles and other woodland litter on the edge of forest clearings or pathways, and can number more than 100,000 members per colony. These ants are large, aggressive, and attack by biting and spraying formic acid very effectively if disturbed.

The largest ant in the UK is Formica sanguinea and is a slave-raider. It raids colonies of other Formicaspecies, such as Formica fusca and steals their brood, taking them back to their own nest where they raise the hatching workers as their own. Surprisingly these ants generally do not kill the workers of the nests they raid unless the defending workers try to stop the invader from taking what it wants. Formica rufa are polygynous and can have hundreds of egg laying queens in one nest.

http://www.lovethegarden.com/pests-diseases/ant-species-and-lifecycle

(sourced 10th September 2012)

managed woodland
managed words
managed placement of words
managed
...but not the ants.

                                 

                            

I was amazed when I came to realise all of the ground below my feet, at a certain spot within the woods, was actually moving...

                                                            ANTS AT WORK!

....the ants are seeming important here...this almost defiant will to manage the forest in their own way...

I typed up the words that I'd documented whilst walking around Yarner woods on one of the trails, configured, I presume, by the  rangers. 

A long list.

I then began considering the movement of these words into a repositioned list, though keeping the words firmly in the order to which they were recorded.

This movement then struck me as a form of management. In fact the whole documentation of my thoughts became a form of management. At which point had this not become managed? My thoughts, my decision to document, my decision to take a note book and pen, my decision to visit the woods, my decision to choose this day to begin the investigation, and so forth. 

??

signage

gate

valley

off the beaten track

toilets

Ecover

Ecover toilet cleaner

Recycled toilet paper

                                                             peat

                                 honeybees

                              pollen sacks

                         full pollen sacks

              heather

              purple

              gorse

              yellow

              small lilac flower

                                                woodland scent

                                      eau de woodland

     panoramic

    padded underfoot

  crackle

   twig

    snap

                           

                          exposed...

roots

woven

                                        cricket

                                   bumble bee x 1

turn 

    a

     b

      en

         d

                                 s

                                 d

                                 r

                                a

                               w

                              p

                             u

charred remains

blackened

pit

into the trees

 new fencing

  new gates

               opened                gates

empty pens

sound...

trickle

 water

stream

   icy cold

              self deciding

butterfly

orange

bilberry

other berries

                                             grasshopper?

                                             cricket?

mulch

canopy

greens

greens

silver

snapped branch

fallen tree

No 20

bird box

tree

bird box

No ..

tree

leaves

twigs

oxygen

                    moving leaf

                                moving twig

             

                                       ant

                                       ants

                                       ANTS!

                              ant path

                       ant industry

                                   proletariat

                                            ant hill

.....

......

.......

........

.........

s i l e n c e

silence of ants

the workforce of the 'managed' woodland..

signage

gate

valley

off the beaten track

toilets

Ecover

Ecover toilet cleaner

Recycled toilet paper

peat

honeybees

pollen sacks

full pollen sacks

heather

purple

gorse

yellow

small lilac flower

woodland scent

eau de woodland

panoramic

padded underfoot

crackle

twig

snap

exposed...

roots

woven

cricket

bumble bee x 1

turn a bend

upwards

charred remains

blackened

pit

into the trees

new fencing

new gates

opened gates

empty pens

sound...

trickle

water

stream

icy cold

self deciding

butterfly

orange

bilberry

other berries

grasshopper?

cricket?

mulch

canopy

greens

greens

silver

snapped branch

fallen tree

No 20

bird box

tree

bird box

No ..

tree

leaves

twigs

oxygen

moving leaf

moving twig

ant

ants

ANTS!

ant path

ant industry

proletariat

ant hill

.....

......

.......

........

.........

s i l e n c e

silence of ants

the workforce of the 'managed' woodland..

signage
gate
valley
off the beaten track
toilets
Ecover
Ecover toilet cleaner
Recycled toilet paper
peat
honeybees
pollen sacks
full pollen sacks
heather
purple
gorse
yellow
small lilac flower
woodland scent
eau de woodland
panoramic
padded underfoot
crackle
twig
snap
exposed...
roots
woven
cricket
bumble bee x 1
turn a bend
upwards
charred remains
blackened
pit
into the trees
new fencing
new gates
opened gates
empty pens
sound...
trickle
water
stream
icy cold
self deciding
butterfly
orange
bilberry
other berries
grasshopper?
cricket?
mulch
canopy
greens
greens
silver
snapped branch
fallen tree
No 20
bird box
tree
bird box
No ..
tree
leaves
twigs
oxygen
moving leaf
moving twig
ant
ants
ANTS!
ant path
ant industry
proletariat
ant hill
.....
......
.......
........
.........
s i l e n c e
silence of ants
the workforce of the 'managed' woodland..