The last episode of 2012 of #A.I.L – artists in laboratories, the weekly radio programme about art and science i present ResonanceFM, will be broadcast today Tuesday 18th December at 4:00 pm. There will be a repeat on Thursday 20th December at 10:30 pm. You can catch it online if you don’t live in London.

Ant Ballet. Photo Ollie Palmer

Collecting ants. Photo Ollie Palmer

Robotic arm. Photo Ollie Palmer

This week i’m talking with Ollie Palmer is a designer, artist, a tutor at Bartlett but he is also the guy who’s so interested in dancing insects that he’s embarked on a 6 year project to choreograph and stage an Ant Ballet.

Developed with the support of scientists from University College London and the Institute of Zoology in London, the work uses a robotic arm which sprays synthesized pheromone in artificial trails that the ants will follow in preference to their own natural foraging behaviour. The project will grow over several phases and one of them involves the creation of intercontinental ant telecommunication devices.

During the interview, Ollie talks ants and more precisely Argentine ants, a particularly invasive species that the UK wants nowhere near its shores. We also learn about the best way to collect ants, to synthesize pheromones and end the show with a few words about the Godot Machine, a device built for the sole purpose of preventing a single ant to move around.

Ollie Palmer, Ant Ballet at FutureEverything 2012

What a merry interview to end the year! The next episode of #A.I.L / artists in laboratories will be up at resonanceFM in mid-January.

Previously: An Ant Ballet at FutureEverything.