SurveillAnts: Foragers

Interactive Biological Installation

SurveillAnts is a visual exploration of collective intelligence and the instinctual patterns that guide life at all scales. Using computer vision, the movements of individual ants are tracked in real time, transforming them into living painters—each step leaving behind colorful, evolving line drawings. These traces accumulate over time, revealing the emergent behavior of the colony.

Presented in a gallery setting, the installation physically and metaphorically elevates ants to eye level, inviting viewers to engage with their intricate world. The work encourages curiosity about the non-human life that surrounds us, even in urban ecosystems, while drawing connections between microscopic and cosmic patterns—from neural networks to the structures of galaxies.