Considering Animal Art: An Argument for Cosmological Framing
Publication information:
Abstract
This presentation argues that whether or not nonhumans create art is not purely an ethological matter — as long as the burden of proof continually rests on nonhumans to demonstrate that they are capable of any feeling or behavior beyond reflex and instinct, creative ability in nonhuman cultures will be either overlooked as a product of training or demoted into biological programming.
I argue that animal art is instead a matter of cosmology. If one’s belief system, even in a vernacular sense, allows for nonhumans to have intersubjective experiences involving abstraction and affect, then evidence can be found to substantiate the claim that animals make art. However, if one's cosmology does not make room for creative expression in nonhumans, then it will always be reduced to evolutionary impulses and survival mechanisms. Here, I intend to explore the intersection of mythology and ethology as an opportunity to de-center human exceptionalism and consider how philosophical framing limits the study of animal engagement with abstraction and creativity.
Presenter Biography
Natalia is an herbalist, wildlife rescue & rehabilitation apprentice, and Ph.D. candidate in the Study of Religion at Harvard University, where she recently completed a Master of Theological Studies degree with a focus on the intersection of ecology and spiritual practice. She researches relational ontologies, posthuman ethics, and diction on personhood in scientific discourse, specifically neuroscience. Her secondary work is in Celtic Studies on trans-species soul migration in mythology and plants addressed in the vocative in Old Irish poetry.
She holds three research and administrative positions at Harvard University. First, she serves as the Associate Director of the Program for the Evolution of Spirituality under Dan McKanan. Second, she leads "Interspecies Dialogues: A Conversation Group Exploring Animism, Posthumanism, and Entangled Roots of Interrelation" which regularly features scholars, writers, scientists, filmmakers, and animacy practitioners. Finally, she serves as an Advisor and Program Associate for the Thinking with Plants & Fungi Initiative at the Center for the Study of World Religion, where she leads the Reading Group.