Entangled ant vision, Bongil Bongil, northern NSW, 2024

photomontage, acrylic paint, fluoro and invisible ink, UV torch, dimensions variable

This work combines photomontage with drawing to offer a more-than-human perspective. It critiques the Western tendency to perceive the world in terms of binaries such as human/nature, reinforced by the scientific classification of the natural world. The removal of organisms from their entangled homes for research in labs, while enriching scientific understanding, misses details of connection and interaction that may be noticed and understood through slow non-invasive observation within their natural environment.

The work’s feminist situated gaze counters the ‘scientific gaze’ that has historically used vision to reinforce its claim to objectivity. While in-situ, humility and slowness assist the noticing of liminal details of an ant’s viewpoint. Adopting the ant’s ground-level perspective reveals her world to me in a manner that is normally hidden. The hues of green, blue, yellow and ultraviolet reflect the visual spectrum of the Australian bull ant, a large ant that uses her exceptional vision instead of pheromones for navigation and hunting. A black light shone on the work illuminates hand-drawn elements as ultraviolet. It is hoped that this speculative interpretation of more-than-human vision sparks wonder and curiosity about the possibilities for entanglements between living matter at macro level.

The photomontage was digitally constructed in over 150 layers using macro photographs taken during in-situ observation in Bongil Bongil National Park, northern NSW. Each organism was identified via the citizen science platform iNaturalist and all are listed at the bottom of this page.

The mock-up below illustrates the project’s planned final design – to offer an immersive experience of the ant’s perspective at human scale. It will include an original audio track based on the ant’s sensing of vibrations in place of conventional sound.