13 replies to this topic

[byungkyulee]

Hi Everybody! 

 

I am a sound designer and artist preparing for another interactive audio installation featuring ants.

I am writing for grant/event applications for exhibition opportunities, and I am kinda stuck, so I need your help!

 

 

 

 

To briefly introduce my work,

 

Here is my previous version: https://www.instagra.../p/CdOkbdhPj2V/

 

How it works:

Anthesizer is a combination of the words Ant + Synthesizer. It is a tool to sonify an ant colony in real time, and look into our society in the reflection of theirs. This real-time sonification process starts with the piezo mics that are built inside of each chamber of the custom-made ant nest. Signals picked up by each mic go through amplifier circuits and fed into a real-time sound synthesis software, MaxMSP. There are tons of variations I can make depending on how I design the nest, and the sound synthesis algorithms.

 

 

 

 

My question:

 

[1] The main theme of current project is "Logistics": How they deliver and distribute foods and nutrients.

Here is a crude sketch/notes of how I might lay out the nests and outworld..

 

 

I think there should be something more, and I feel like something is missing. Plus, it might be boring to just have the nests with piezo mics laid out like that and do sound synthesis based off of it. That's kinda similar to previous version.

 

If you have any thoughts, ideas, suggestions, critiques, any opinions about it, feel free to put it on the comment. It really helps.

 

 

 

[2] When I google "ant logistics", I could see a lot of academic papers and articles deals with "Ant Colony Optimization" and "Swarm Intelligence" which are basically focused on an algorithm that finds the shortest route in a shorter period of time. I don't know if I can apply those concepts on my piece anyhow.

 

 

 

[3] I have P. rugosus (50+W), and C. fragilis (100+W) colonies right now.

I am thinking of using fragilis this time, but if you have any other species that would fit perfect for this theme, let me know.

I am also thinking of purchasing a large colony if I could get a grant from school.

 

 

 

Thank you for reading.

[FinWins]

Atta would be a great subject because they are fast growing and make a lot of noise, so I've heard. Acromyrmex would work too, but they wouldn't make as much noise and are slow growers.

[Full_Frontal_Yeti]

In terms of considering ants through sound, i would point out that harvester ants(seed collectors) do not have a colony homogeneous behavior about what seeds to collect when.
 

the general pattern being, whatever seed an ant is collecting, that's the only kind of seed it will collect for a period of time (a work day perhaps).

And not all workers decide on the same seed at the same time. During any given foraging activity only some of the ants will get involved.

 

Under those conditions i would imagine that through sound we could potentially estimate what % of the colony was engage in the foraging activity at any given time.

We  might also attempt to derive what they were carrying, as different sized loads might drag/push into the ground as they carry them. And the different properties of the seeds would potentially make different sounds,  or none at all when they can be carried fully off the ground.

 

 

But over all the amount of traffic should translate to amounts of sound that could be measured.

As well the cadence of the ants' movements could be used to suggest something about their behavior.

Slow start and stop steps might indicate searching, might also come with a sound triangulation pattern that shows us a "search pattern" of motion in an area.

While active gathering might be more constant step sounds and with an obvious motion trail between forage and storage.

 

A visual map made from sound showing the ants going from searching to foraging in their behavior. As well as a gauge on how much of the colony got involved form one forage to the next seems a way sound could be used to observe ants.

Perhaps a larger open roam outworld as part of the ratio to directed walking paths(the spine) would open up their behavior a little to be more interesting.

They can only show us their real wild foraging behavior when they have enough roaming space really. Otherwise there is little in the searching behavior, and the "go here" signals don't divy up the world so obviously to our eye, when they can be smelled from near by, and near by is the only place to be all the time in a  small enough world.

Edited by Full_Frontal_Yeti, February 14 2023 - 9:36 AM.

[byungkyulee]

Atta would be a great subject because they are fast growing and make a lot of noise, so I've heard. Acromyrmex would work too, but they wouldn't make as much noise and are slow growers.

 

I would love to feature Atta ants but I am living in Southern California, US so I might not be able to use that sp. 

[byungkyulee]

In terms of considering ants through sound, i would point out that harvester ants(seed collectors) do not have a colony homogeneous behavior about what seeds to collect when.
 

the general pattern being, whatever seed an ant is collecting, that's the only kind of seed it will collect for a period of time (a work day perhaps).

And not all workers decide on the same seed at the same time. During any given foraging activity only some of the ants will get involved.

 

Under those conditions i would imagine that through sound we could potentially estimate what % of the colony was engage in the foraging activity at any given time.

 

Oh that is an interesting point! That is another possibility.

 

We  might also attempt to derive what they were carrying, as different sized loads might drag/push into the ground as they carry them. And the different properties of the seeds would potentially make different sounds,  or none at all when they can be carried fully off the ground.

 

it might be hard to expect distinguishable sounds depending on what they are carrying, but that is also a good point too!

 

 

But over all the amount of traffic should translate to amounts of sound that could be measured.

As well the cadence of the ants' movements could be used to suggest something about their behavior.

Slow start and stop steps might indicate searching, might also come with a sound triangulation pattern that shows us a "search pattern" of motion in an area.

While active gathering might be more constant step sounds and with an obvious motion trail between forage and storage.

 

A visual map made from sound showing the ants going from searching to foraging in their behavior. As well as a gauge on how much of the colony got involved form one forage to the next seems a way sound could be used to observe ants.

Perhaps a larger open roam outworld as part of the ratio to directed walking paths(the spine) would open up their behavior a little to be more interesting.

They can only show us their real wild foraging behavior when they have enough roaming space really. Otherwise there is little in the searching behavior, and the "go here" signals don't divy up the world so obviously to our eye, when they can be smelled from near by, and near by is the only place to be all the time in a  small enough world.

 

While reading this, I thought I might have to make the outworld big enough to expect any interesting interaction from them.

 

 

 

By the way, do you think using rugosus colony(50+) is a better choice than using fragilis colony(100+)?

 

Thank you so much for reading and your suggestion.

[AntsCali098]

You might be able to obtain Atta with permits

Edited by AntsCali098, February 14 2023 - 11:29 AM.

[AntsCali098]

 

In terms of considering ants through sound, i would point out that harvester ants(seed collectors) do not have a colony homogeneous behavior about what seeds to collect when.
 

the general pattern being, whatever seed an ant is collecting, that's the only kind of seed it will collect for a period of time (a work day perhaps).

And not all workers decide on the same seed at the same time. During any given foraging activity only some of the ants will get involved.

 

Under those conditions i would imagine that through sound we could potentially estimate what % of the colony was engage in the foraging activity at any given time.

 

Oh that is an interesting point! That is another possibility.

 

We  might also attempt to derive what they were carrying, as different sized loads might drag/push into the ground as they carry them. And the different properties of the seeds would potentially make different sounds,  or none at all when they can be carried fully off the ground.

 

it might be hard to expect distinguishable sounds depending on what they are carrying, but that is also a good point too!

 

 

But over all the amount of traffic should translate to amounts of sound that could be measured.

As well the cadence of the ants' movements could be used to suggest something about their behavior.

Slow start and stop steps might indicate searching, might also come with a sound triangulation pattern that shows us a "search pattern" of motion in an area.

While active gathering might be more constant step sounds and with an obvious motion trail between forage and storage.

 

A visual map made from sound showing the ants going from searching to foraging in their behavior. As well as a gauge on how much of the colony got involved form one forage to the next seems a way sound could be used to observe ants.

Perhaps a larger open roam outworld as part of the ratio to directed walking paths(the spine) would open up their behavior a little to be more interesting.

They can only show us their real wild foraging behavior when they have enough roaming space really. Otherwise there is little in the searching behavior, and the "go here" signals don't divy up the world so obviously to our eye, when they can be smelled from near by, and near by is the only place to be all the time in a  small enough world.

 

While reading this, I thought I might have to make the outworld big enough to expect any interesting interaction from them.

 

 

 

By the way, do you think using rugosus colony(50+) is a better choice than using fragilis colony(100+)?

 

Thank you so much for reading and your suggestion.

 

I would suggest the rugosus colony as you would need a lot of those small nests to fit 100+ Camponotus fragilis. Plus, the rugos would be more interesting to watch and hear, as they collect seeds.

[byungkyulee]

You might be able to obtain Atta with permits

 

Oh the PPQ526 Pest Permit? Yeah you are right.

 

But Another thing with Atta ants is that Kuai Shen, whom I really admire and my whole project is inspired by his works, already did similar stuff with Atta ants in one of his installation piece. -> https://vimeo.com/50131224 I also wanted to feature ant species that are native to California / Desert area.

 

 

 

 

 

I would suggest the rugosus colony as you would need a lot of those small nests to fit 100+ Camponotus fragilis. Plus, the rugos would be more interesting to watch and hear, as they collect seeds.

 

I tried to go with C. fragilis colony this time bc

1. fragilis colony(100+) is twice the size bigger than rugosus colony(50+) right now, and this kind of audio installation needs huge colony.

2. I already covered rugosus colony in the previous version.

 

But I think you are right. rugosus carry seeds so they would make more interesting sounds than fragilis.

I don't mind using the same species, but I just wanted to try different sp, you know.

 

 

There are now around 50~60W in rugosus colony. And the exhibition would be around April~May.

How far can they grow until then? And Is there any way that I can boost this colony?

 

Thank you!

Edited by byungkyulee, February 14 2023 - 5:55 PM.

[AntsCali098]

There are now around 50~60W in rugosus colony. And the exhibition would be around April~May.
How far can they grow until then? And Is there any way that I can boost this colony?

Thank you!

To answer your questions:
1. This species, Pogonomrymex rugosus, along with most other ants, will not grow fast until spring time, when it gets warmer. Even if they are on heat, the ants will "know" when it is and typically will still slow down in the winter. I can't really pinpoint how much they will grow exactly, it depends on how much your queen lays, how warm it they are being heated at, etc. I could estimate they could grow to 70-80ish workers from 60 in April/May.

2.You can certainly boost them by brood boosting, which is taking brood from another colony of the same species and giving it to your colony, but to my knowledge, that is the only way to do it if you are already heating them. I am assuming you have seeds for them out at all times (so you can't really increase food intake), and you are heating them (you need to for proper growth).

I totally get using the camponotus instead, as it could be boring for you to use the same sp.

Hope this helps!

There are now around 50~60W in rugosus colony. And the exhibition would be around April~May.
How far can they grow until then? And Is there any way that I can boost this colony?

Thank you!

To answer your questions:
1. This species, Pogonomrymex rugosus, along with most other ants, will not grow fast until spring time, when it gets warmer. Even if they are on heat, the ants will "know" when it is and typically will still slow down in the winter. I can't really pinpoint how much they will grow exactly, it depends on how much your queen lays, how warm it they are being heated at, etc. I could estimate they could grow to 75-80ish workers from 60 in April/May.

2.You can certainly boost them by brood boosting, which is taking brood from another colony of the same species and giving it to your colony, but to my knowledge, that is the only way to do it if you are already heating them. I am assuming you have seeds for them out at all times (so you can't really increase food intake), and you are heating them (you need to for proper growth).

I totally get using the camponotus instead, as it could be boring for you to use the same sp.

Hope this helps!

Edited by AntsCali098, February 14 2023 - 8:17 PM.

[FinWins]

Acromyrmex are a cool cal native species however they are rather slow growing

[FinWins]

Now the ultimate genus to record would be Odontomachus. When my colony of O. brunneus gets mad at me they snap their jaws together and you can hear a poping noise right through glass.

[byungkyulee]

 

To answer your questions:
1. This species, Pogonomrymex rugosus, along with most other ants, will not grow fast until spring time, when it gets warmer. Even if they are on heat, the ants will "know" when it is and typically will still slow down in the winter. I can't really pinpoint how much they will grow exactly, it depends on how much your queen lays, how warm it they are being heated at, etc. I could estimate they could grow to 75-80ish workers from 60 in April/May.

2.You can certainly boost them by brood boosting, which is taking brood from another colony of the same species and giving it to your colony, but to my knowledge, that is the only way to do it if you are already heating them. I am assuming you have seeds for them out at all times (so you can't really increase food intake), and you are heating them (you need to for proper growth).

I totally get using the camponotus instead, as it could be boring for you to use the same sp.

Hope this helps!

 

 

Ahh oki. I mean I am doing my best to feed them protein (various seed mix and mealworm), and keeping nice humidity + warm heating for them. They have been growing quite fast over this winter.

 

And yeah, I might ask around on Discord if anyone can offer brood boosting for rugosus.

 

Thank you so much for your advice! It really helps!

[byungkyulee]

Now the ultimate genus to record would be Odontomachus. When my colony of O. brunneus gets mad at me they snap their jaws together and you can hear a poping noise right through glass.

 

Wow that is interesting! Are they native to California too? I just looked up on Antwiki and it says it isn't.

[FinWins]

 

Now the ultimate genus to record would be Odontomachus. When my colony of O. brunneus gets mad at me they snap their jaws together and you can hear a poping noise right through glass.

 

Wow that is interesting! Are they native to California too? I just looked up on Antwiki and it says it isn't.

 

Sadly, they aren’t