Ant Static

I found a huge ant hill one summer in Finland. I put a piece of white paper on an anthill and shot video as the ants began to swarm over it. This footage was then layered about a hundred times and speeded up to produce the look of television "snow" or static. The soundtrack was handled similarly, and consists of the speeded up and layered sound of ant mandibles snapping.

When exhibited, the piece plays on a small monitor set on the floor. At a distance, it appears to be an old TV that is malfunctioning. Only when reading the wall label does it become clear what’s actually going on.