Animals have always been compelling subjects for artists, but
the rise of animal advocacy and posthumanist thought has prompted a
reconsideration of the relationship between artist and animal. In
this book, Steve Baker examines the work of contemporary artists
who directly confront questions of animal life, treating animals
not for their aesthetic qualities or as symbols of the human
condition but rather as beings who actively share the world with
humanity.
The concerns of the artists presented in this book--Sue Coe,
Eduardo Kac, Lucy Kimbell, Catherine Chalmers, Olly and Suzi,
Angela Singer, Catherine Bell, and others--range widely, from the
ecological to the philosophical and from those engaging with the
modification of animal bodies to those seeking to further the cause
of animal rights. Drawing on extensive interviews he conducted with
the artists under consideration, Baker explores the vital
contribution that contemporary art can make to a broader conception
of animal life, emphasizing the importance of creativity and trust
in both the making and understanding of these artworks.
Throughout, Baker is attentive to issues of practice, form, and
medium. He asks, for example, whether the animal itself could be
said to be the medium in which these artists are working, and he
highlights the tensions between creative practice and certain kinds
of ethical demands or expectations. Featuring full-color, vivid
examples of their work, "Artist Animal "situates contemporary
artists within the wider project of thinking beyond the human,
asserting art's power to open up new ways of thinking about
animals. "
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