Casting an Ant Colony with Molten Aluminum
An incredible metal structure is made by pouring molten aluminum into a fire ant colony.
The resulting cast is huge, weighing 17.9 lbs. and reaching a depth of 18 inches.
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According to icreative.am, the concept of “anthill art” may evoke some bizarre imagery, but it’s a rather unique and remarkable form of art. What is anthill art? The procedure is rather simple. The artist pours molten aluminum on top of an anthill (or directly into the opening) where it penetrates the surface and makes its way through each and every tunnel and crevice in the colony.
Eventually, the aluminum begins to cool and harden, forming a “cast.” The cast is then washed off and put on display and can be viewed on the official Anthill Art website.
The anonymous artist behind it all began his journey just a couple of years ago. He uploaded his first video, the casting of a fire ant colony, on Nov. 22, 2013. Since then, the three-minute clip has been viewed more than 63 million times. Clearly the Internet was fascinated.
You might be asking yourself — isn’t this a terrible thing to do to ants? On the one hand, yes, exterminating a colony of ants using piping hot metal can be considered an inhumane thing to do. However, you should note that the artist will cast only the colonies of invasive species.
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Most of the artist’s work is casts of fire ant colonies, which according to the HungryPests, pose a threat to the environment. Not only are their bites painful and potentially fatal, fire ants can also ruin crops and damage agricultural equipment. So rather than exterminating the ants with pesticides, this artist uses an unorthodox method that yields some beautiful structures.
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