The travels of Marta Polo: Red hairy-legs ants

Artist in Residence Donglai Meng schreef tijdens haar residency travel notes ‘The travels of Martha Polo. Tijdens haar expositie publiceren we dagelijks een van haar notities.   

If you come out of the south gate of Breda railway station and walk down a paved walkway that shines brilliantly even on a grey Dutch winter’s day­, those humble smooth tiles unreservedly reflect the sun’s rays from above. If you walk towards the sun, you have to squint your eyes or lower your head. Interestingly, when you lower your head, you can see a row of red hairy-legs ants crawling orderly on the ground. Compared to ordinary ants, they appear to be quite huge, their six powerful hairy legs swing like rolling fires. These little red things will catch your attention completely, and an intense interest drives you to follow them. Soon the road is at its end, you look up, and face the city park of Breda: Valkenberg.