Italians Antsy, Art Crawls Free
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VENICE, Italy — Ants for art’s sake?
An observer cried no and filed animal abuse charges against a Japanese artist who used more than 200 ants in an installation of sand dunes and tunnels.
After the charges were lodged, Yukinori Yanagi dismantled his creation and let its inhabitants crawl free. But not before he was given an award at the respected Biennale art show.
On Friday, he left Italy without public comment.
The exhibit “Can Art Change The World?” was a wall-mounted complex of ant farms connected by plastic tubes. Each farm was made with colored sand in the design of a nation’s flag.
Yanagi said he wanted to show that obstacles separating nations can be broken down much as the ants could overcome barriers separating them.
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