tech
The language of termites: Liss Fenwick’s The Colony
Liss Fenwick’s new photobook The Colony, available through Perimeter Editions, is a book about books – and what happens when their authority is quietly and actively undone
TL;DR
- Liss Fenwick's photobook 'The Colony' uses termite-consumed books to explore and deconstruct colonial narratives.
- The books, including 'The Australians' series, are presented as 'settler fan fiction' that reinforced myths of exploration and nation-building.
- Termite mounds and hollowed books are presented as mirroring architectures of collective intelligence.
- The process of termites consuming books is viewed as generative transformation, returning knowledge to the soil.
- Fenwick's photographs document the 'digestion' and reshaping of books by termites, challenging human authority and knowledge.
- The project is linked to the Borroloola library where termites ate a copy of 'The Imitation of Christ' and Fenwick's own childhood experiences with termites in the Northern Territory.