Can an ant be an artist?

Ann Shafer

​In the BMA’s study room, I welcomed classes from area colleges and high schools and enjoyed the groups from MICA the most. I loved showing young artists works that made their brain synapses fire. You could see them igniting. Sometimes it was fun to play the “how was it made” game. Usually these works were conceptual in that there is a set of rules governing the making, and also indexical in which the image is of its own making. One such drawing by Baltimore artist Denise Tassin always made the cut. The BMA’s online database doesn’t include the drawing so I can’t show you the actual work, but it is similar to the version I posted below (know that the paper is bright white, not pink). The abstract image is on a large sheet and is made of only red ink. Sometimes the students would guess correctly: Tassin used earthworms and red pigment to create the image. In some of the marks one can discern the ribbed rings of the worms’ two ends, which were usually the giveaway. It’s a beautiful drawing and enables a discussion about conceptual works of art in which a set of rules are established and followed. In this case the rules are simple: the worms are allowed to wriggle around for X time, no other intrusions interrupt the process.

Next, I would pull out another critter-based work: the portfolio Wandering Position by Japanese artist Yukinori Yanagi. Coincidentally also in red ink, the five untitled sheets in this portfolio are etchings and the featured insect is an ant. On a plate coated with a hard ground, the artist followed the ant with an etching needle, tracing its path in the confined shape. Looking closely reveals the ant’s repeated attempts to get out; there is a marked build-up of lines in the corners and against the boundary. I suspect the rules included a time limit in which to follow the creature. And here is another indexical image. Yanagi didn’t draw an image of an ant traversing a space, rather, the ant’s recorded path is the image.

The students seemed to love the portfolio; they always reacted with a hearty “ooh!” It’s such a simple concept really, following a bug with an etching needle. But there’s more to it. There’s a weird power struggle here, a both/and situation. The tiny and vulnerable ant is in charge of the artist’s labor and yet is confined to a prescribed space. On the other hand, the artist is at the whim of the bug and is also in control of the situation. In this and in other works Yanagi looks at issues of control in society, drawing a through-line from borders, nationality, and migration to incarceration. (The artist created an installation piece at Alcatraz in 1996.)

I always strove to show works that expanded what was possible as well as different modes of art making. Yanagi’s portfolio is an intriguing set of prints that always resonated with young artists.

Denise Tassin (American, born 1966)
Drawing by Worms
Red ink
Denisetassin.com

​Yukinori Yanagi (Japanese, born 1959)
Wandering Position, 1997
Printed by Harlan & Weaver
Published by Peter Blum Editions
Sheet (each): 615 x 510 mm. (24 3/16 x 20 1/16 in.)
Portfolio of five etchings printed in red
Baltimore Museum of Art: Women's Committee Acquisitions Endowment for Contemporary Prints and Photographs, BMA 2001.352.1–5

Denise Tassin (American, born 1966). Drawing by Worms. Red ink.

Yukinori Yanagi (Japanese, born 1959). Untitled, from the portfolio Wandering Position, 1997. Printed by Harlan & Weaver; published by Peter Blum Editions. Sheet: 615 x 510 mm. (24 3/16 x 20 1/16 in.). Etching printed in red. Baltimore Museum of Art: Women's Committee Acquisitions Endowment for Contemporary Prints and Photographs, BMA 2001.352.1–5.

[DETAIL] Yukinori Yanagi (Japanese, born 1959). Untitled, from the portfolio Wandering Position, 1997. Printed by Harlan & Weaver; published by Peter Blum Editions. Sheet: 615 x 510 mm. (24 3/16 x 20 1/16 in.). Etching printed in red. Baltimore Museum of Art: Women's Committee Acquisitions Endowment for Contemporary Prints and Photographs, BMA 2001.352.1–5.

Yukinori Yanagi (Japanese, born 1959). Untitled, from the portfolio Wandering Position, 1997. Printed by Harlan & Weaver; published by Peter Blum Editions. Sheet: 615 x 510 mm. (24 3/16 x 20 1/16 in.). Etching printed in red. Baltimore Museum of Art: Women's Committee Acquisitions Endowment for Contemporary Prints and Photographs, BMA 2001.352.1–5.

Yukinori Yanagi (Japanese, born 1959). Untitled, from the portfolio Wandering Position, 1997. Printed by Harlan & Weaver; published by Peter Blum Editions. Sheet: 615 x 510 mm. (24 3/16 x 20 1/16 in.). Etching printed in red. Baltimore Museum of Art: Women's Committee Acquisitions Endowment for Contemporary Prints and Photographs, BMA 2001.352.1–5.

Yukinori Yanagi (Japanese, born 1959). Untitled, from the portfolio Wandering Position, 1997. Printed by Harlan & Weaver; published by Peter Blum Editions. Sheet: 615 x 510 mm. (24 3/16 x 20 1/16 in.). Etching printed in red. Baltimore Museum of Art: Women's Committee Acquisitions Endowment for Contemporary Prints and Photographs, BMA 2001.352.1–5.

Yukinori Yanagi (Japanese, born 1959). Untitled, from the portfolio Wandering Position, 1997. Printed by Harlan & Weaver; published by Peter Blum Editions. Sheet: 615 x 510 mm. (24 3/16 x 20 1/16 in.). Etching printed in red. Baltimore Museum of Art: Women's Committee Acquisitions Endowment for Contemporary Prints and Photographs, BMA 2001.352.1–5.