Tardigrades usually have eight legs and are segmented creatures. These tardigrades are solid cast cement and concrete forms. They were cast into plastic to give the crinkled effect running along their undersides. The patchwork quality is due to the cement and concrete mixing during pouring. The tardigrades are heavy yet fragile. Small pieces are constantly flaking off the forms as they slowly decompose and disintegrate – or the making of new skin.
In the traditional sense tardigrades are ancient creatures understood to be incredibly resilient and able to survive pandemics, plagues, radiation and extreme temperatures. They have had a presence on Earth (recorded 500 million years ago from the Cambrian period) and possibly other planets since forever and are bedfellows with fungi and algae. Tardigrade-slow-steppers perhaps are rather like the persistent tortoise that slowly wins the race by maintaining a steady pace. These tardigrades are missing legs and feet and so, even slower – slow stepping, slow steppers.
