SF0 / Lank / Document Decay

15 + 65 points

Document Decay by Lank, Scooter0101001

June 16th, 2007 12:25 AM / Location: 34.073261,-118.2936

INSTRUCTIONS: Document an instance of decay.

This task has taken more time to complete than any I have done to date. You'll see why.

We started with a fresh banana, still slightly green and free from blemishes. If you're like me, the sight of a fresh, almost ripe banana is quite tempting. So I grabbed a silver pen and wrote the word "Delicious" on this banana. Then I stabbed it through the center with a wire hanger, ran a length of fishing line through the hole, tied off one end of the line to a small piece of cardboard (to hold it up), and hung this banana from a pipe in the carport underneath the apartment complex in which we live.

Then time did it's work. Specifically, the starches in the banana were turned into sugars via respiration and rot set in. It took more time than I expected, but that makes for a more detailed documentation.

Time wasn't the only thing to take its toll on my banana. It wasn't long before the fruit flies found this little treasure and boy oh boy! They went to town!

See the pics below for the whole story. Well, mostly. The night after these last pair of photos were taken, the "banana" succumbed to gravity and became a putrid splat on the ground. It was delicious while it lasted!

- smaller

Materials

The banana, wire hanger, fishing line, small piece of cardboard at the bottom, and since this is the hood of a car, some dried bird crap next to the cardboard.

Day 1

Here's the banana, hanging in mid-air in the carport. Doesn't it look tempting?

Day 2

Looks about the same, except... see those tiny dark bumps on the banana? Fruit flies!

Day 3

Still green and somewhat delicious-looking, but looks can be deceiving. See below.

D3 Detail

Note the bruising on the backside, and a couple o' flies.

Day 4

By this time the banana is starting to show some wear n' tear. And it is quickly becoming...

The Fruit Fly Party Pad!

Yup. Are the hip, swingin' single fruit flies want to hang on the banana.

FFPP 2

The flies especially love the go into that hole in the top, through which the fishing line is threaded. Mmmm...

Day 5

We've definitely got some bruising now. The process of respiration has exhausted the banana's starches, and it's now loaded with sugar for - you got it, the fruit flies!

D5 Detail

They love it! Their friends love it!

Day 6

More and more spots are appearing.

D6 Detail

And the bruising deepens.

Day 7

Now it's really starting to get nasty.

D7 Detail

Fruit flies are hangin' on the bottom of the banana, to drink up the rotten juices that are seeping from the hole in the bottom.

Day 8

One week later. The banana has become so soft in the middle that gravity is pulling it down over the little piece of cardboard on the bottom. Yes, those bumps all over are flies.

D8 Detail