Imagined Animal Name and Quotes

As animals are classified into a Genus and Species, my make believe animal must be too, this will enforce the theme of human dominance, as well as providing a name for my animal!

Wikipedia definition of Genus and Species...

'A genus (/ˈdʒiːnəs/, pl. genera) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms in biology. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial species name for each species within the genus.

E.G., Felis catus and F. silvestris are two species within the genus Felis. Felis is a genus within the family Felidae.

The composition of a genus is determined by a taxonomist. The standards for genus classification are not strictly codified, so different authorities often produce different classifications for genera. 

In biology, a species (abbreviated sp., with the plural form species abbreviated spp.) is one of the basic units of biological classification and ataxonomic rank. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms where two individuals are capable of reproducing fertile offspring(hybrids), typically using sexual reproduction. While in many cases this definition is adequate, the difficulty of defining species is known as the species problem. For example, a species complex is a group of closely related species that are very similar in appearance to the point that the boundaries between them are often unclear.'

I want my animal to represent the 'make believe' or imagined, but also to embody all animals as a whole. This is important to my project as I want my work to evidence human dominance over animals in a range of ways through art work in the form of a cabinet of curiosities.

Latin Quotes: Belief, Trust

credo ut intelligam

I believe so that I may understand

cras credemus, hodie nihil

Tomorrow we believe, but not today

credo quia absurdum/impossible est 

I believe it because it is absurd/impossible

crede quod habes, et habes

Believe that you have it, and you do

credit posteri

Believe it, future generations (Horace)

I think the last phrase would be perfect as the name of my animal because it has only two words which is the general format for classifying Genus and Species for example Homo sapien. This phrase reinforces the idea that there if current and future generations learn from human-animal relations throughout history, about evolution and our strong connection to the rest of the animal kingdom, the way we view and treat animals has the potential to change in a fairer or less ignorant way.

My animal has been named... 

Credit posteri 

What is Anthropology?

WIKI 

Anthropology

Main article: History of anthropology

Anthropology can best be understood as an outgrowth of the Age of Enlightenment. It was during this period that Europeans attempted systematically to study human behaviour. Traditions of jurisprudence, history, philology and sociology developed during this time and informed the development of the social sciences of which anthropology was a part.

At the same time, the romantic reaction to the Enlightenment produced thinkers such as Johann Gottfried Herder and later Wilhelm Dilthey whose work formed the basis for theculture concept which is central to the discipline. Traditionally, much of the history of the subject was based on colonial encounters between Western Europe and the rest of the world, and much of 18th- and 19th-century anthropology is now classed as forms of scientific racism.

During the late 19th-century, battles over the "study of man" took place between those of an "anthropological" persuasion (relying on anthropometrical techniques) and those of an "ethnological" persuasion (looking at cultures and traditions), and these distinctions became part of the later divide between physical anthropology and cultural anthropology, the latter ushered in by the students of Franz Boas.

In the mid-20th century, much of the methodologies of earlier anthropological and ethnographical study were reevaluated with an eye towards research ethics, while at the same time the scope of investigation has broadened far beyond the traditional study of "primitive cultures" (scientific practice itself is often an arena of anthropological study).

The emergence of paleoanthropology, a scientific discipline which draws on the methodologies of paleontology, physical anthropology and ethology, among other disciplines, and increasing in scope and momentum from the mid-20th century, continues to yield further insights into human origins, evolution, genetic and cultural heritage, and perspectives on the contemporary human predicament as well.

Notes

Photoshoots

• People as savages
• Prey/predator
• snarling/clawing/biting

Research

• Voodoo shrines
• Horniman Museum 
• Japanese merman
• Hindu Temple - giant sculpture shrines
• Shop shrines
• Aggie- Totems and amulets - xmas - shrine in garden /animal.
• Butchers /petshop mice/ fish monger /farmers market
• Alexander - taxidermy
• Feather
• 2 beginings of animals swap - make hybrid animal.
• resin cast - ag lauren intern advice -youtube. 
• fast food nation - slaughter houses 
• Humans- selfish - won't make a difference unless on mass. 
• Meat - rare treat - protein + fat. - Luxury
• Fur
• Meat
• Bone to carve 
• Teeth
• Sleep in stomache of animal - bear grills and leonardo di caprio in new film
• Pet- for company -dogs 'mans best friend' was the first animal to follow the tribe in hunter gatherer societies. - fluffy - no threat + vulnerable - reliant on u- roam free or caged- loyal- no spikey beaks or painful sharp claws, not messy - domesticated dont poo everywhere (inside) - trainable so the human can dominate/have power over them. - comfort. Vulnerable = loving, licks, stays next to you, fat and stupid, spider, snakes are intriguing. 
• Scary threat- claws, lots of eyes, motherly instinct, male predator, sound of wolves, sound of insects, unknown sounds, cant see, being able to pick you up/carry you away, kidnap/capture you, bite, bigger than you, big teeth, flared nostrils, muscles, insects are not cute or cuddly, not domestic, mean to have as pets, spikey, loads of legs, hissing.
• Colouring - natural/coloured feet/yellow/black danger?

This week my aim was to design my animal, a baby and an adult version, stating its various animal components and their significance to the Homo sapien. I am pleased to say I have done this. The next post will be describing my make-believe animal, next on my list is to come up with a name (latin) and to start drawing out and planning the artifacts proving the existence of the animal, or at least proving the existence of the human-animal relationship. 

Indian Influence

Going to India had a significant impact on my view of this project. I visited some Hindu Temples and they were amazing, in particular the power of a shared myth and the animal deities really stood out to me and how humans held a relationship with these deities. Often a family has a particular deity they hold in highest regard that they pray to as there are so many to choose from. Every shop I went into had shrines! Sometimes they were christian but more often they were Hindu deities and almost all of the sculptures and artworks were based on these deities too. It is such an integral part of their culture and is such a source of comfort, strength, inspiration and love in their day to day life, bringing people together, unfortunately it is also a great source of conflict. We were told on our trip that there had been lots of conflict kicking off between different groups and also mainly the political groups such as the communists and the others.

But back to my product inspiration- the items in the shrines and the temples were amazing, mainly because they held such historical myth/legends behind them which all the Hindus believe in and pray to. It was amazing to see such a rich culture and a human built temple and shrine dedicated to a shared myth/faith. Just showed the power of Homo sapiens working and believing in something together. It took years to construct.

Because of this research into the culture of shrines and the animal deities in the everyday life of Homo sapiens, I have decided it is important to use the element of shrines in my practical work to show this part of the human condition (believing in shared myths).

I also had a left over matchbox I was saving for another DIY project but I suddenly thought it would be good as a mini shrine as I have previously seen these before somewhere, luckily for me there is a lot of inspiration online of how other people have crafted their own shrines in matchbox type of boxes etc!

http://www.art-e-zine.co.uk/matchbx.html
Here is my pinterest board dedicated to my COP3 project:
https://www.pinterest.com/dearalice1/cop3/

List of Outcomes

COP3 Zine

This home made DIY zine for Thought Bubble Festival UK was created using initial images from my Context of Practice sketchbook and then edited digitally using Photoshop. The themes approached in this zine are Human-animal relationships specifically focussing on Human Dominance, the Evolutionary Perspective and the Postmodern Animal.

The zine is printed in black and white but the original images are mixed media, combining collated images, drawn illustrations, writings, painting, and cutting/etchings into the paper.

Overall I am really pleased with this zine as I have only made a ‘book’ once before which was in first year, so this was a good experience to give a quick DIY zine ago. I wasn’t surprised that I didn’t sell many because I didn’t create it for the target audience at thought bubble. This was because I was more focussed on creating a book showcasing my human dominance themes in my sketchbook for my COP3 project… I can’t imagine that many people would like to own a zine like this as its not very comforting or cute or even has much of a story line! As I had to create this quite a few weeks before the deadline as I was abroad, I had to give and take on the content… however next time I create a zine I would love to create one from scratch with a moving story line and characters! But personally this zine really worked for me and I found the whole process of making it and editing my work really beneficial to my practice!

FIND DESCRIPTIONS OF EACH ILLUSTRATION RELATED TO MY ESSAY BELOW...

Find the ISSUU link to my Thought Bubble Festival UK zine below:

03/12/15 Peer Review

General Comments
Really lovely sketchbook! So much play and investigation!
The portraits in the moleskin are banging. Especially the girl with antlers. 
Lots of play, I love your sketchbooks, very emotive.

Comment on the appropriateness, scope and ambition of the proposed outcomes in relation to the subject...

Strengths
Peer Reviewer a) You have a lot of really ambitious ideas. Based off all of the visual research you've done. 
Peer Reviewer b) Ambitious in a good way. You wrote about which is the most shocking piece, make sure your product intentions line up with this.

Suggestions
Peer Reviewer a) Narrow down. You're still really broad, instead of going for some crazy, faux-historical artefacts. Why not do an anamilistic breakdown of modern life? Like what you were doing with your collage work? (my notes: I do love collage and found it really fun and experimental and also really cool getting the message across in that form and media... but this is not as appropriate to the final objects I want to create in response to and working along with my essay. I will stick to my 'crazy faux-historical artefacts' after all you never know there may have been a creature like this... may be 'true'-historical... history only started as Homo sapiens language developed into story telling communication soooooo you never know. Before this it was just 'biology' - context Sapiens, A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari).
Peer Reviewer b) I think it would be good to get yuoor list of products to a more narrowed down list. E.g. 3x wall paintings, 2x pieces of clothing etc. 

Comment on the quantity and quality of visual investigation and development of ideas in response to the theme and subject...

Strengths
Peer Reviewer a) You've got absolutely tonnes of really high exploration visual work.
Peer Reviewer b) A really good quantity of work.

Suggestions
Peer Reviewer a) I think your development of actual ideas is either lacking, (incorrect) or not properly documented. (more likely! haha) Spend some time thinking more about how your ideas are going to work - will help the outcome. ( I agree, I definitely need to think about process more from now onward)
Peer Reviewer b) Watch the quality, maybe do a test piece in the aesthetic of your product to see how it works. Keep the focus and don't over complicate your idea, for example did you need to draw McQueen dresses? (my note: yes I did to show the incorporation of animal parts into a human garment in order to reclaim the power of that animal to our own advantage.)

Comment on the documentation of the conceptual and practical development of the work evidenced on the Blog...

Strengths 
Peer Reviewer a) Like your visual work, loads of theories and loads of research. 
Peer Reviewer b) Lots of research!

Suggestions
Peer Reviewer a) Needs to be better organised, some stuff isn't entirely clear. (I will go through now and try to clarify my points and expand on them where needed- in particular with any links that seem randomly placed.)
Peer Reviewer b) Where you have put links on your blog, expand on it more so who ever is reading it knows why it's there. Also add your Tumblr posts! Put more pictures on your blog of key drawings as it is very text heavy. ( my note: I really agree with this especially putting key pictures up, I think the fact ISSUU was used for most pictures had put me off putting single pictures up but obviously this is really important and good for visual evidence to back up what I am talking about in the text.)
Poverty aid in Burley is good for antique frames and cabinets etc (my note: good for a cabinet of curiosity type piece to hold the collection of the objects I make.)

Comment on the decisions regarding the production and proposal of outcomes...

Strengths 
Peer Reviewer b) You have a good idea of what you are going to produce and propose.

Suggestions
Peer Reviewer b)It would be useful to be more specific - which media for which product. 

Practical Work: Why am I Making-Up an Animal?

My essay focuses on human and animal relationships. In particular Homo sapiens dominance over the rest of the animal kingdom. I investigate and approach the topic through the postmodern and evolutionary perspectives. I focus on the theory that it is Homo sapiens advanced language skills that allowed them to communicate in larger Homo sapien bands and communicate ideas that do not literally exist which belong under the term 'shared myths'. An example of a shared myth is Christianity or corporations like Apple. It is this ability to communicate in large sapien bands and believe in shared myths that allowed them to work together in order to dominate over other species, e.g. work as a team to round them up and catch them, to farm them, to slaughter them; shared myths created animal deities in order to please and offer sacrifices to the threatening animals they were fearful of and to create shared social norms of what animals are non threatening and thus suitable as pets such as domesticated cats and dogs.

Why did I not attempt to create a post modern animal?
I actually find the idea of the postmodern animal a very controversial one. I don't think personally that it is ever possible to create a postmodern animal in the regards that it will always be a humans interpretation of the animal; it will never be a true representation of the animal itself. However in some opinions the postmodern animal is something that acts as an obstacle. In this case my work will be a postmodern animal, as it aims to confront and intercept into the ongoing discourse about the Homo sapiens relationship with animals. My work will do this because it will display human portrayals of an extinct make-believe animal, the animal will incorporate many of the characteristics such as horns and fur that Homo sapiens kill animals for. It will show off the amazing garments and tools that the animal was used for that helped aid in the survival of the Homo sapien and how Homo sapiens killed the mothers to take the cute babies of the species as pets. It will also show the threat of the adult, almost like how we feel about dragons, and the magic of the animal, like how we feel about unicorns. However we do not have museum collections based on unicorns and dragons like we do on dinosaurs. I don't want this to have a sci-fi feel I want it to be more looking into the evolutionary perspective on human dominance over animals. To look into our psychology, individual and as group, and how we are the biggest threat as a species to the rest of the animal kingdom. It is not animal rights, as this itself is a shared myth!!
It is actually just social documentary about how Homo sapiens are in reality, even though I am doing this through using a make-believe fictional animal! The themes and actions of the Homo sapiens are not make-believe or fictional though, we do this to animals every day!

Relevent information from the previous post concerning the important books I will be using:
Title: Stuffed animals and pickled heads: the culture of natural history museums. 
Author: Asma, Stephen T. 
Why: I want to create a make-believe animal but create human 'evidence' for the existence of this animal. We rely on human evidence heavily to suggest history of both ourselves and animals and nature. Be this folk tales, artwork, jewelry or garments. A cabinet of curiosities is the type of collection I want to make but I will investigate more into this particularly through research in this specific book. The made up animal will be incorporating animal elements such as horns, fur and feathers, that humans take from the dead animal to use for their own aesthetic or tools. I also wanted to show the main theory of why Homo sapiens are so powerful; language/communication but in particular the ability to believe in shared myths. Shared myths range from religion to corporations like Green Peace. The imagined animal I create will be a shared myth... the evidence will be jewelry and garments showing how we take from animals, but also wall paintings showing the history and threat of the animal, plush toys of the baby animal or photographs with the baby as pet. and artwork/shrines to the animal as a deity, that show the power of shared myths and thus the power of humans. 

Title: Finders, keepers: eight collectors. 
Author: Purcell, Rosalind Wolff; Gould, Stephen Jay 
Why: Collections; this book will also be really helpful regarding my made-up animal.

Books from the LCA Library: Why?

Title: The postmodern animal. 
Author: Baker, Steve 
Why: This gave me great insight into postmodernism and the postmodern animal, which meant expanding into human and animal relationships historically, presently and in the future. Also gave me some really appropriate artists to look into which I would have found hard to find before.

Title: Considering animals: contemporary studies in human-animal relations. 
Author: Watt, Yvette (ed.); Leane, Elizabeth (ed.); Freeman, Carol (ed.) 
Why: Will give me insight into human-animal relations and rethinking about considering animals from a human perspective.

Title: Drawn from paradise: the discovery, art and natural history of the birds of paradise. 
Author: Fuller, Errol; Attenborough, David 
Why: This book gives me a deeper understanding of one particular animal; 'birds of paradise'. But through this specific topic we can see how humans have used animals as beauty in art, an alternative to the postmodern perspective. 

Title: Animals in art. 
Author: Brion, Marcel 
Why: To give me more insight in how humans have used animals in art historically.


Title: James Gillray: the art of caricature 
Author: Godfrey, Richard 
Why: I thought this book would be useful as there would be a lot of caricatures that use animals or animal features and characteristics to make examples of humans or accentuate their negative qualities. However in fact I found almost no direct animal comparisons in his caricatures so I didn't explore Gillray in my essay, although I am sure it would be possible to do but it didn't seem very necessary. 


Title: Taxidermy. 
Author: Turner, Alexis 
Why: This book was extremely useful to me in my research into taxidermy. I did not know too much about the topic and I found out a lot about the craft as well as its terminology and history. 


Title: Stuffed animals and pickled heads: the culture of natural history museums. 
Author: Asma, Stephen T. 
Why: This book will be useful to me particularly for my practical work as I want to create a make-believe animal but create human 'evidence' for the existence of this animal. We rely on human evidence heavily to suggest history of both ourselves and animals and nature. Be this folk tales, artwork, jewelry or garments. A cabinet of curiosities is the type of collection I want to make but I will investigate more into this particularly through research in this specific book. The made up animal will be incorporating animal elements such as horns, fur and feathers, that humans take from the dead animal to use for their own aesthetic or tools. I also wanted to show the main theory of why Homo sapiens are so powerful; language/communication but in particular the ability to believe in shared myths. Shared myths range from religion to corporations like Green Peace. The imagined animal I create will be a shared myth... the evidence will be jewelry and garments showing how we take from animals, but also wall paintings showing the history and threat of the animal, plush toys of the baby animal or photographs with the baby as pet. and artwork/shrines to the animal as a deity, that show the power of shared myths and thus the power of humans. 


Title: Finders, keepers: eight collectors. 
Author: Purcell, Rosalind Wolff; Gould, Stephen Jay 
Why: Collections; this book will also be really helpful regarding my made-up animal.