An aluminum casting of a fire ant hill went viral this week, causing controversy from people who questioned whether the artist was unduly cruel to the insects in making his artwork.
While it is arguably insensitive to the ants who called the ant hill their home, pouring molten aluminum inside the creation reveals the intricacy of tunnels and passageways the ants created under the ground.
The sculpture was created when molten aluminum was poured inside the ant hill’s opening until it hardened. Then, the artist excavated the creation from the ground and hosed it off for display.
Unsurprisingly, the artist has caught a lot of criticism for the video and his artwork, which is featured at his website, Anthill Art. As such, he even had to disable YouTube comments on the video, which has seen more than 4.6 million views since it was uploaded on November 22.
The about section explains, “I disable comments because I’m sick of your bickering. Also, I couldn’t get YouTube to stop sending me an email every time someone posted “What if I poured aluminum in your house.” for the 100th time.”
While we have to agree that the artwork seems pretty harsh for the fire ants who called the ant hill home, The Huffington Post points out that the bugs cost us about $1 billion a year. Their stings can also be extremely painful, if not deadly.
[Image via Anthill Art]
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