“I want to share my fascination; I would like to explore the way we have always envisioned the life of animal species, how that view has changed throughout history, with the annotation that I focus on Europe because that is what influenced me most, through its culture and religion. I will create an overview as an important body of text, as I’ve come across a lot of people that are less close to nature, let aside the intuitive world of animals and the possible connection between a human being and an animal. I will not go in-depth on every different opinion or philosophical idea on the matter, as I am more interested in creating – and talking about - a personal journey and explore this, rather than trying to suggest scientific research is at stake.
I will be exploring the human bond with other animal species, meaning I see you and me –us humans – as a part of the bigger animal kingdom. We are all animals, all creatures big and small. I will be using the word animal in the broadest sense, because it paves the path for explaining things a bit easier to digest for you, dear reader, whether you are a lover of animals or art, or neither. So instead of man versus animal, this thesis is more along this train of thought: humans are just another lifeform of domesticated animal species, like cats or dogs.”
A Rietveld thesis that examines our bond with animals throughout Western history, looking for example at ‘Kluger Hans’ the famous counting horse and animal rights pioneer Richard ‘Humanity’ Martin, illustrated with archive materials and the artist’s artworks depicting some of the subject matter (printed on glossy pages in the back), also includes an interview (in Dutch) with the artist conducted by Yvonne Twisk about Mishkan, the artist’s mixed media installation and performance (pictures of which are included).
Hard cover, 17 x 12 cm, 112 pages, Amsterdam 2022
