these are strange times. normally i would look at these shells and think about the evolutionary forces that made such an awkward shape so common: “how could there be 313 varieties of auger snails in the world, when they all look top heavy and awkward?” but, in fact, my first thought was about this year’s american election of all things. where the choice is between perhaps the most exaggeratedly male candidate, and the first female candidate, in history. between masculine power and feminine power. between anger and craft. between the urge to dominate, and the urge to integrate. between towers and villages.  between the phallus and the womb. between, historically speaking, and to put it delicately, the augerer, and the augered.

auger shells (terebridae)

la plage de l’espiguette, camargue, france