Forgetful Tree 1250 generations

 Thousands of ants explore the world, leaving a trace of their path for others to follow.
A scent-memory.

Each work starts out as a single tiny dot, and over time, as the ants explore outward, lines are drawn. Once an ant reaches the end of its lifespan and dies, a new one is born at the root of the tree.
It first follows the first scent it can find, and then continues exploring further, in a direction it's most confident about.
Over time the scent gets distorted, uncertain, and eventually disappears beneath thousands of fresh traces.

The visual result finds its way somewhere between lightning, roots, and branches.
The tree gradually grows, from that first point,
to an intricate tangle of branches 20, 000 generations later.

The works are each printed in the exact same scale. Larger pieces are older trees, while the smallest ones (such as this) are as few as 1600 generations.