When Antennae: The Journal of Nature in Visual Culture comes out, it’s always reason to put down what you’re doing and peruse. We’ve told you about it before, and have been particularly intrigued by its emphasis on animals and the arts. The Summer 2012 issue, now available online, is — as expected — a must-read. The theme of the issue is “Animal Influence,” and it brings together written and visual work that was presented at a conference by that name which took place in November 2011 in Vancouver. The conference gathered nationally and internationally recognized artists as well as scholars whose work is influenced and informed by animals, their cognitive abilities, creativity and consciousness.
Don’t miss the current issue of Antennae
Among the articles are :
- A piece on “the functionality and implications of Zoomorph – a distributed software art project currently in development … [that] consists of image and video filters generating simulations of how a large selection of non-human animals see, helping us experience the world with the eyes of another species;”
- An article on the ARC Wildlife Competition, “the first high profile project in the field of architecture and landscape architecture to prioritize the needs of animals.” This piece includes a focus on rectifying the harm caused by roads in North America, where “[r]ecent studies posit that animal-vehicle collisions have increased by 50% in the last 15 years, with estimated collisions within the US alone between one and two million;” and
- Highlights from the work of several artists, including Joanne Bristol and France Cadet.
There is also much, much more. If the intersections of animal studies and art intrigue you, don’t miss the chance to check it out.