Sticky — BRITT RANSOM

Sticky, 2025

Louisiana State University Glassell Gallery: https://design.lsu.edu/lsu-school-of-art-presents-britt-ransom-sticky/

Sticky, features 3D-printed ant raft sculptures carrying candy oil barrels made of sugar down an abstract model of the Mississippi River. Ants and sugar serve as metaphors for the complex journey of sugar from production to consumption connecting it to troubled ecologies of exploitation and extraction. Today, sugar’s dominance in the food landscape masks its exploitative history. Sticky invites reflection on these entanglements, urging us to confront the sweetness of consumption and its bitter legacy.

Sugar’s narrative is one of sweetness and moral complexity, with ants symbolizing humanity’s relentless pursuit of this commodity. Our craving extends beyond natural instincts, driven by industrial systems and global trade, making sugar a ubiquitous part of life. Norbert Rillieux’s 19th-century invention revolutionized sugar refining, improving efficiency but also reinforcing the exploitative economic structures of the time. The Mississippi River is a crucial link connecting slavery to America’s sugar addiction.

Ant rafts, formed by collective effort to survive floods, mirror the resilience and adaptability required to navigate extreme climate and environmental challenges faced by communities along the Mississippi River. Just as ants link together to stay afloat when threatened by flood waters, communities along the river have historically relied on collaboration and ingenuity to endure the economic and environmental currents. This the ants speak to both the tenacity of survival and the complex systems of interdependence that shape human and natural histories.

This exhibition wass supported in part by a grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council, as administered by the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge, Inc. Funding has also been provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.

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