The human-animal relations investigated in a thesis from Valand School of Fine Arts

The defense and the research involve a thesis and three art projects: nanoq: flat out and bluesome, (a)fly and seal. The thesis contextualizes the three projects and situates the research in relation to an exploration of ideas in current contemporary discourse on human – animal relations.

Two of the art projects nanoq: flat out and bluesome and (a)fly are completed projects that have been and continue to be exhibited in different locations and formats. nanoq: flat out and bluesome has been exhibited in venues including; Spike Island in Bristol, the Oxford Museum of Natural History, the Horniman Museum in London, the North Atlantic House ‘Bryggen’ in Copenhagen, the Nordic House in the Faroe Islands, the Fram Museum in Oslo and the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge. (a)fly has been shown in the National Museum of Iceland and the Reykjavík City Library as part of Reykjavík International Art Festival, in the Konstmuseum in Gothenburg and in the group exhibition ‘Animal Gaze’ at London Metropolitan University and currently touring in the UK. The third project, seal is not complete and has not yet been exhibited, but is presented here as an example of artistic research in progress.

At the root of this research is the perceived disappearance of the animal, by means of its many forms of representation. The exhibition takes into consideration the structure of the venue Glashuset, itself echoing a glass vitrine and what has become a familiar way of encountering animals and animal specimens in contemporary culture. The curation of the exhibition utilizes the different levels of the space as a means by which to explore various types of human – animal engagement.

For further details about the artist:
www.snaebjornsdottirwilson.com

For review copies of the thesis:
Anna Holgén, coordinator Valand: anna.holgen@valand.gu.se