Path
2018
Site-Specific Installation
Calcium Sulfate, Hydroponic Lettuce, Snails (Neohelix albolabris), Plexiglas, Grow Lights, Backlit Prints, Misting System, Aeration System, Timers
Path began as a meditation on the movements of the common garden snail , Neohelix albolabris. I observed snails gliding in my studio and transcribed their slime trails into calcium sulfate sculptures. The calcium sculptures become edible microhabitats for the snails to occupy and slowly rasp away at the glyph-like deposits to help build their shells. Snail trails were also input to cellular automata as a way to extend the terraforming process into the gallery grid floor. Resulting grid patterns were overlaid onto maps of the region, directing me to visit activated map-cells to collect materials and photographs to feed back into sculpture/habitat production. Path explored the generative possibilities of interspecies collaboration to create an emergent landscape that invites people to inspect the small and temporally challenging scale of snail life.