A study shows that leafcutter ants repair their nests by recycling refuse dump materials. Recycling is rarely seen practiced by social insects because use of discarded materials may cause outbreaks of diseases in their colonies. But in some situations where the benefit of recycling could be greater than its costs, they repair their mound damage during the summer depending on seasonal foraging restrictions. (Source: “Trash to treasure: leaf-cutting ants repair nest-mound damage by recycling refuse dump material”, Alejandro G. Farji-Brener and Mariana Tadey, Laboratorio Ecotono, CRUB-Universidad del Comahue-INIBIOMA-CONICET (8400) Bariloche, Argentina. Publication 17 September 2021)
With the help of project contributors and participants, aricoco explores upcycling methods to revalue our own human ways to live more sustainable life together, drawing parallels between human societal organization and non-hierarchical social insect systems.
This project went both virtual and physical:
Virtual programs (Pre-recorded) started with “Arumonotsukau project” (Make-do-with-what-we-have) by Kenneth Mah. He shared his habit of salvaging discarded materials and repairing old electronic devices. And, interviews with two environmental-conscious visual artists - Rie Hasegawa and Songyi Kim, whose work incorporated discarded objects were also archived.
The featured program was an interview with a scientist - Taylor Harts, whose studies involve with developing methods for generating new varieties of genetically modified ants. She also discussed leafcutter ant nests and their complex waste management systems.
Final virtual program was an interview with Sake/Doburoku specialist, Sarika Seki Hussey. She talked about the sustainability of Doburoku, and touched upon the responsible food production and consumption as stated in UN SDGs.
The first Physical Program - Clothes Swapping session was held at Sustainable Fashion Community Center in East Harlem on October 7th with a guest stylist Cat Schuller's presence.
The final event culminated in the form of Textile Swap that I hosted at a venue called MIKA in Bushwick, where a slide talk on sustainable fashion and cord-making demo using fabric scraps were presented by the guest sustainable fashion designer and climate activist, Rosie Mae.
This program is made possible by the New York City Artist Corps.
Swapping session with aricoco at Sustainable Fashion
Community Center in East Harlem (SFCC)
Thursday, October 7th
Guest Stylist: Catherine Schuller
In-person event happened on Thursday October 7th, Noon to 1pm at Sustainable Fashion Community Center in East Harlem (near 110th street station on 6 train.)
FREE Swapping Session with aricoco!!!
This was a part of PIPORNOT: Superorganismic Upcycling&Mending 2021 virtual&physical programs supported by New York City Artists Corps.
Participants were invited to first, clean out your closet then bring the clothing items (including shoes, bags and other accessories) to the swapping session. When they checked in at the Welcome Desk, the staff weighed what they brought in. We then started browsing through the shop, which was a spacious and safe space with a fitting room, a photo backdrop for some selfie-moments. (The amount that participants could take was limited to 10 items.)
Sustainable Fashion Community Center offers regular swap sessions with a very reasonable ticket price! More info on this venue: https://www.nycfairtradecoalition.org/sfcc
PIPORNOT: Superorganismic Sip & Swap+Style Workshop at MIKA - Guest Speaker: Sustainable Fashion designer, Rosie Mae https://rosinamae.com/
October 24th, 2021
Interview with a Scientist
Taylor Hart
Taylor was born in Baltimore, Maryland, USA and currently lives in New York City. She received her BA in biology and has worked since then as a PhD student in the Laboratory of Social Evolution and Behavior at Rockefeller University.
Her thesis work began with developing methods for generating new varieties of genetically modified ants. These ants produce fluorescent proteins in specific cells in their bodies, and she uses them to study the function of the ant's nervous systems as well as to understand the division of labor within ant colonies.
Taylor is deeply interested in education, communicating science to the public, and the interface of arts and science. She has co-developed and taught several courses in biological science with the RockEdu Science Outreach program at Rockefeller. She also makes visual art and co-created an award-winning short film through the Imagine Science Film Festival Symbiosis Competition in 2019.
Doburoku & Sustainability - Interview with SARIKA SEKI HUSSEY
ARUMONOTSUKAU PROJECT (make do with what we have) by Kenneth Mah
Interview & Dish Soap Making with Rie Hasegawa (visual artist/printmaker)
Image: Rie Hasegawa "UNTRASHED", 9"x7" each, Mixed media (Collagraph, drawing, collage and chine collé), 2019 - some pieces out of the set of 42 are shown here.
Interview & "Packaging material transformation" Mini Workshop
with Songyi Kim (visual artist)
Image: Songy Kim, Party Table no.4 (installation view), Found objects, granite tiles, art studio/class scraps, foil sheet, glitter, acrylic, graphite & marker on vinyl sheet, 2020