A nighttime installation set in the high Sonoran Desert, this piece was inspired by moths I saw flying around my porch light. I thought if I could just provide a screen for the silhouettes to project onto, I they would create their own shadow-puppet show. I placed a 6 ft. x 8ft. wooden frame in front of a desert broom bush, and hung a sheer curtain from the top. Behind the bush, I placed an empty slide projector, so that the white light would shine through the bush and onto the curtain. A doused the bush with old orange juice to attract bugs, and waited for nightfall.

Although the orange juice didn't work as well as I had hoped, the light from the projector did attract insects-- mostly ants. The silhouettes of the ants, enlarged onto the screen, appeared to be over a foot long, and very creepy. When ants were not marching across the screen, the outlines of the plants layered in front of the lit bush behind, undulated as the curtain moved in the breeze.

QuickTime movie 5.3 MB