THE PHEROMONE TREES AND COYOTE

2020-2021

The Pheromone Trees and Coyote was an experiment in interspecies interaction through biochemical intervention. Developed following a "Hacking the Molecular" workshop led by Mary Maggic, the project explored DIY estrogen extraction protocols to isolate pheromone compounds from the artist's own body.

The extracted material was used for an intervention within a forest ecosystem in New Brunswick, Canada, to initiate communication across species boundaries. The intervention took place within an unusual landscape shaped by ecological imbalance: an Eastern white pine monoculture next to a massive military base. Coyotes and snowshoe hares maintain an active presence despite broader disruptions to local biodiversity.

Rather than treating pheromones as tools of control, the project examines the uncertainties of biochemical signalling beyond the human. The artist sprayed the pheromone solution onto trees within the forest and monitored the site using infrared trail cameras to create a video work that documents wildlife responses. The resulting video consists of two synchronized trail-camera recordings presented in juxtaposition.

Captured at the same location but at different times of day, the footage reveals a striking overlap between the movements of the artist and a local Eastern coyote, each traversing the same pathway in near-identical ways. Rather than documenting a direct encounter, the work reveals asynchronous relation in which human and more-than-human bodies occupy the same territory through staggered temporalities. The video suggests a condition of reciprocal awareness, where communication emerges through the subtle exchange of signals across species boundaries, entangling human and more-than-human animals through scent, territory, and mutual observation.

The project was later expanded into the peer-reviewed open-access article, "Performing Bureaucratic Theatre in Academic Science Fields; A Case Study: The Pheromone Trees and Coyote," published in Synthesis: An Anglophone Journal of Comparative Literary Studies. The article uses the project as a case study to examine territoriality, multispecies narratives, institutional regulation, and the absurd bureaucratic performances often required of unconventional research.

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Infrared trail camera footage, single-channel video [00:01:11].

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Publication for further reading:
https://ejournals.epublishing.ekt.gr/index.php/synthesis/article/view/35720