I like to think that human behavior has very little in common with insects. However, after Colin Ives’ lecture last night, I just might have to reconsider.

Ives’ lecture examined human interaction with the environment and the responses made to external stimulants. Reexamining his past, Ives is confident that much of the major artistic decisions he has made were influenced largely by his interpretation of interactions and of the environment.

One of his presented pieces was a video featuring a colony of ants swarming on a fallen lollipop. It looked like a sugar high feeding frenzy at first, but I couldn’t help but notice that there was a chaotic order to the teeming mass. My first impression was that the ants were doing what ants do. However, when I look outside the office window, certain similarities can’t be ignored. Hundreds of people are winding their way on Macadam Avenue every hour, not unlike ants on a scent trail to a high fructose feast.

Another presented theme centered on adaptation to a changing environment. Rather than relocating, or going extinct like most wild species do when humans move in, pigeons and kit foxes are doing quite well. They have adapted remarkably well to human influence and are enjoying city life and suburbia just as much as we are.

These are just a few of the many ideas Colin Ives brought up from his observations of the environment, which is refreshing. Art isn’t always about the abstract, the foreign, or the unknown. It can simply be the observation of life around us.

Next time I see an ant, rather than squishing the life out of the pest maybe I’ll follow it.

And see where it takes me.

Note: Colin Ives’ work can be viewed on his online portfolio at www.colinives.com.

=====
DAVID NG
QUANGO INC // WRITER

Yesterday Cara Tomlinson launched her new Web site with her blog, collected writings, and a gallery of paintings (with accompanying artist statements). If you haven’t checked out Cara’s work, don’t read any further. Visit her site now.