Diana Thater is an activist and artist that focuses on the way living creatures are treated by humans. She has spent some time preventing the sale of cetaceans, marine mammals like whales and dolphins, to amusement parks. She speaks about the politics in her art and the politics of activism, she says mixing them will make them muddle. Preferring the subtlety of politics in her art. Speaking about film and documentation of animals she mentions that a film or photograph of an animal without narrative is a problem, because one image after another looks great but it lacks substance. In her work, she attempts to involve the viewer in the world of the creature being presented. Stating that the feeling being created by the projections in the surroundings of the viewer will be enough to create a lasting emotion. She displays projections of footage of an animal in a way that surrounds the viewers into the world of the creature. A direct contrast to zoos, which encage creatures in human surroundings. She talks about how sad zoos are since the confinement of these animals makes them psychotic. Even with the best treatment and proper nutrition, this confinement gives off a horrible view of the human treatment of animals. Thater speaks about her work as an activist, how can she translate these actions to make artwork that will leave a feeling. This feeling she talks about will grow into change, change in the human mind, and subsequently change in the issue presented. She believes that once the viewer contemplates the beauty of this world, they will recognize and acknowledge all other living creatures through a sympathetic adventure. Which will better conditions not only for the animals but for humans as well.
This is a great post with lots of information. I would say I think it would be cool to Make these statements and then follow them up with an image. This would combine the text and image as one unified piece. Very knit picky, overall very good.
ReplyDeleteFantastic information on the artist and there artwork. I enjoyed the images but, I think Gabriel is right about stating something and then putting the image. Overall I did enjoy the blog post and even explored more about the artist!
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