Today on #ThrowbackThursday we’re excited to once again feature a profound article from visual arts professor Keri Cronin on her unforgettable trip to a stockyard. This article’s originally appeared on Our Hen House on March 14, 2014. If you’d like to see a certain OHH article resurrected, email us at info [at] ourhenhouse [dot] org. *** I had been to a stockyard before, but …
Here at Our Hen House, we’re enormous fans of using art as a medium for activism. In this #ThrowbackThursday post, visual arts professor Keri Cronin reflects upon the possibilities for curated spaces like museums, galleries, and exhibitions to help in changing the world for animals. This article originally appeared on Our Hen House on June 12, 2013. If you’d like to see a …
Just as Keri Cronin unearths centuries-old artwork that informs her activism, we unearth her years-old article in the hopes of informing your own activism on this edition of #ThrowbackThursday! This article originally appeared on Our Hen House on March 18, 2013. If you’d like to see a certain OHH article resurrected, email us at info [at] ourhenhouse [dot] org. *** One of the things that makes …
Best known to vegans as the author of The Cheesy Vegan, Grilling Vegan Style, The Tipsy Vegan, and The Ultimate Beer Lover’s Happy Hour, John Schlimm also spreads compassion through his bold and interactive art. His latest work is The Book of Compassion, a collection of multimedia projects intended to “inspire the viewer to embrace and think about compassion in a new …
If you are not yet familiar with the work of the National Museum of Animals & Society, that needs to change. The museum, now located in its brand new digs in Los Angeles, has been doing groundbreaking work since its inception, and this spring NMAS marked another “first” as it hosted the first-ever gallery exhibition of Jo-Anne McArthur’s powerful photographic work. …
In recent months, Mercy for Animals Canada has been commanding the attention of Canadians like me as footage from their undercover investigations has been shown and discussed in mainstream media programming throughout this country. Just this month, for example, graphic and disturbing footage shot by an undercover investigator at a veal farm in Quebec was featured on the national investigative journalism …
One of the things that makes art such a powerful tool for activism is that it can create a space where issues of injustice can be articulated, and solutions for social change can be imagined. A recent installation at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History by California-based artist Rocky Lewycky, a professor at De Anza College, is a poignant …
I had been to a stockyard before, but that was many decades ago… I grew up in a part of Canada that has a lot of farming communities, and I have vivid memories of going with my uncle to a live animal auction at the stockyard nearest his home. I was very young at the time, and the day was presented …
Worried About Wilbur When I was a young child one of my favorite books was Charlotte’s Web. I loved this story and must have read it dozens of times, but each time I recall feeling worried about Wilbur the pig’s fate as the tale unfolded. Even though I knew the ending of the story almost by heart, the thought of Wilbur …
Our Hen House’s “Picturing Animals” columnist, Dr. Keri Cronin, recently left her home in Niagara, Ontario, to intern on the shelter at Farm Sanctuary. Keri, an art history professor at Brock University, was in between semesters and decided to take advantage of her time off in order to work hands-on with rescued animals. In what will be a three-part series, Keri …
The recent publication of Alexis Turner’s book Taxidermy has confirmed something that we at Our Hen House have been noticing for the past little while, namely that taxidermy is rather trendy these days. Thames & Hudson, the publisher of Turner’s book, describes taxidermy as the “height of cool,” and reviews of this book celebrate the ways in which “stuffed animals” are …
As readers of this column know, I believe that the arts are an important and essential aspect of activism. I am always heartened to learn about new projects that blend creative expression with a dedication to making the world a kinder, gentler place for all species. The Kids Against Lab Beagles project is one such initiative, and what makes this project even …
I was delighted to hear that Sue Coe was recently named this year’s winner of the prestigious Dickinson College Arts Award. This award was established in 1959 and is intended to honor “an individual or group’s outstanding contribution to the creative or performing arts.” Previous winners include Robert Frost, W.H. Auden, and John Cage. This award, in other words, has recognized …
This autumn the work of an artist by the name of Pockets Warhol went on display at the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto, and it caught the attention of national media. The Gladstone has a reputation as “Canada’s favorite Boutique Art Hotel,” and is known for its unique artist designed hotel rooms in addition to the exhibits of contemporary art it hosts …
Dear Flock, Keri Cronin here, the columnist for Picturing Animals. I want to tell you a bit about the class I am teaching this semester, a special seminar I have developed called “Picturing Animals.” This is a class in which we explore not only the ways in which animals have been represented in art and visual culture over time, but also …
As I was nearing completion of my undergraduate studies in Art History, I had a crisis of conscience. As my graduation date got closer I became more and more disillusioned with my chosen field of studies. I had been accepted in to a prestigious graduate program in another part of the country, but what was the point? I, like many students, …
Animal Liberation, Peter Singer’s classic text, has influenced countless activists since it was first published in 1975. It has also inspired Nonhuman Animals: Eat, Test, Love, a new art exhibit currently on display at Princeton University, where Singer is the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics. The exhibition features recent work by mixed media artist Hetty Baiz, and is an extension …
Recently the 2013 Open the Cages (OTC) tour made a stop in my hometown. This year marks the second iteration of the OTC tour, a “travelling animal liberation fest,” which has been stopping in various cities across North America this summer. The tour combines screenings of Karol Orzechowski’s documentary film Maximum Tolerated Dose with music, protests, and workshops, all on the …
Mishka Henner’s stunning aerial images of industrial feedlots in the United States have been receiving a lot of attention in recent weeks. The large-scale digital photographs were included in an exhibition called “Precious Commodities” at the Open Eye Gallery in Liverpool in spring 2013, but have recently gone viral online thanks to the number of times they have been shared on …
In his book, Every Twelve Seconds: Industrialized Slaughter and the Politics of Sight, Timothy Pachirat describes the ways in which different patterns of seeing are intimately linked with the treatment of animals. What is seen and who is permitted to see what –what Pachirat refers to as the “politics of sight” – have always been at the core of animal advocacy. …
Last weekend I went out to Cedar Row Farm Sanctuary in southwestern Ontario for a volunteer visit, a day where folks help with things like cleaning out the barn and other chores that come with providing shelter to rescued animals. As we moved around the farm with our pitchforks, buckets, and shovels, the non-human animals who make up the family of …
On Saturday, July 6, 2013, I gave a talk at a special event organized by the National Museum of Animals & Society (NMAS), an occasion billed as a “Convivial Afternoon of Humane History & Merriment.” The event took place at the incredibly cool Velaslavasay Panorama in Los Angeles, a location that honors the pre-cinematic history of visual culture. In addition to …
A few months ago I was introduced to Kentucky-based artist L.A. Watson’s video piece, What Makes For a Grievable Life? (2009). In this piece, the frozen, decapitated, and plucked body of a chicken, the kind found in any grocery store, is unwrapped and tenderly placed in a shallow, hand-dug grave. Yellow flowers are placed on the grave, a gesture which, when …
Whenever I am in London I make a trip over to the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in South Kensington to see Sir Edwin Landseer’s 1837 painting, The Old Shepherd’s Chief Mourner. It is a funny thing, really, this need I have to go and stand in front of this painting time and time again. This is a painting I am …
Recently, I have been thinking about the ways in which museums, galleries, and exhibitions can function as a space for activism. While these venues are often perceived to be “stuffy” and rather far removed from the politics of activism, in fact there is a wonderful history of these spaces being the site of political dialogue around social change. A thoughtfully curated …
This spring I attended the Living With Animals conference at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) (which you may have heard about on Our Hen House), where I gave a presentation on the “Picturing Animals” course I teach at Brock University. While I enjoyed the opportunity to speak to other academics about this class and about some of the rewards and challenges of …
What is the role of history in contemporary art and activism? In what ways can the past shape or challenge dominant ideas about animals? Two recent works by Canadian media artist Donna Szoke demonstrate the power and potential that rethinking animal histories holds for current activist practices. Through contemporary media technologies, Szoke asks viewers not only to rethink the history of …
One of the things that makes the history of visual culture so compelling to study is discovering the links that exist between activists today and those speaking out against injustice in previous eras. While socio-political contexts have of course shifted (to say nothing of the technologies used to make and reproduce images!), historical images can provide an important framework for understanding …
In our current times, so much animal suffering happens out of sight. The industrial production of food and fashion items, for example, deliberately and purposefully creates a situation where consumers are very much in the dark about the many gruesome steps that exist between the living, breathing, feeling animals raised for food and fashion, and the carton of milk or fur-trimmed …
In our contemporary world, industrial-scale agricultural operations have a lot invested in making sure that consumers don’t think too much about where the meat, dairy, and eggs they pick up in the supermarket come from. In this equation, sentient beings are conceived of as commodities and treated as such, as if they do not have the ability to feel pain, pleasure, …
Today it is common for animal rights activists to turn to visual imagery as a form of protest against the use of animal body parts in fashion. For example, PETA’s “I’d Rather Go Naked” campaign features celebrities taking a stance against fur fashions. In this campaign, people like Eva Mendes and Tommy Lee pose nude to proclaim their support for this …
This column, with Dr. Keri Cronin, the Chair of the Visual Arts Department at Brock University, explores the visual representations of animals – both in history and in our contemporary times – with a focus on how visual representations shape, question, and challenge our relationships with the species we share the planet with. Picturing Animals: Lucky by Keri Cronin How do paintings, drawings, photographs …