Interactive Futures symposium tackles ethics of using animals in art

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      Have you ever wondered about the way humans interact with animals in art, or about the ethics of using animals in our world? An upcoming symposium at Emily Carr University of Art and Design is promising to answer some of these questions.

      Interactive Futures is a biennial event that brings together artists and academics from across Canada to discuss issues related to art in the modern world. At this year’s symposium, “More-Than-Human Worlds”, they will explore themes related to the ethics of animals and art.

      “We’re looking at alternative ways of considering our relations to animals and the natural world that offer more positive, compassionate, and caring means to explore those relations,” says Julie Andreyev, artistic director of Interactive Futures. 

      This year’s topic is one that is very close to Andreyev’s heart. “I’m also an artist, and I work mostly with interspecies collaborative modes,” she says. “A lot of [my work] is with my two dogs, so we work together on projects.”

      Zen research, environmental ethics, First Nations mythologies, and cultural studies are among the many areas to be explored by the symposium. Experts include faculty from five universities across Canada: Emily Carr University, Ontario College of Art and Design, University of British Columbia-Okanagan, Simon Fraser University, and York University.

      The symposium consists of two days of workshops as well as an exhibition of 10 art projects surrounding this theme. The exhibition is free and open to the public.

      “All the artists are working with technologies that have a way of revealing aspects of the nonhuman world that we might not have access to as unmediated humans,” Andreyev says. The exhibition showcases the results of these projects.

      Jay White is one of the 10 artists exhibiting their work. During his project, Coyote Walk, he spent three days travelling around the city like a coyote. He would only walk around at night, and he had to stay away from places where humans could catch him. 

      He also invited the audience to participate by allowing them to use their smartphones to track his location via GPS.

      His exhibition will be a discussion about what he learned on his walk. According to White, he explores the way that “seeing how acting differently changes your perception of what’s around you”.

      One thing he was taken aback by was how many coyotes he saw on his walk. 

      “I had to end the walk because everywhere I wanted to sleep, there were already coyotes there. I know they are successful in urban environments, but they are so successful that it was like there was no place to go,” he says.

      “It was really amazing to see the kind of overlap of territories that I wasn’t aware of.”

      White’s exhibition is just one of many, and Andreyev hopes that viewers of all the exhibitions will take away a similar message. 

      “I hope they will consider their own everyday life differently, and how to use knowledge to think about culture as a whole and how we can actually move towards improved or increased awareness,” Andreyev says. “That’s what it’s really all about.”

      Interactive Futures: More-Than-Human Worlds takes place from April 24 to 25. The exhibition runs from April 24 to May 8. More information can be found here.

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