Mo Ganji: Saint Lucia Racer | St.-Lucia-Rennnatter | Erythrolamprus ornatus | No. 188/250 from work group 8/99

Mo Ganji brings attention to the Saint Lucia racer — a slender, diurnal snake adapted to dry coastal woodland and scrub habitats — by allowing the single line to seek the animal’s core presence rather than its agility or rarity. The line condenses the being into a reduced coherence, suspending fear, movement and distinction so that what remains is presence itself. In Ganji’s sense, the line is never fixed to the snake alone; it remains open, reminding us that every figure is also a conceptual frame temporarily imposed.

Erythrolamprus ornatus is listed as Critically Endangered (CR) on the IUCN Red List. Endemic to the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia, the species was once widespread but is now confined to a tiny offshore islet, Maria Major. Its global population numbers only a few dozen individuals, making it one of the rarest snakes in the world.

The principal threats include historical persecution, habitat loss, and predation by introduced species such as mongooses and rats. Because the racer’s remaining habitat is extremely limited, its survival depends on intensive management, strict biosecurity measures and ongoing monitoring. Any disturbance to this single refuge carries immediate consequences.

Ganji’s single line opens a space in which the snake can be encountered beyond danger or revulsion. It allows attention to rest on a life reduced to the edge of inhabitable space, suggesting how survival can hinge on the preservation of a single place — and how absence elsewhere often remains unnoticed once disappearance has already been accepted.