Art, Design, and Animal Studies by Elizabeth Sutton

Art, Design, and Animal Studies by Elizabeth Sutton

This volume is a comprehensive exploration of how animals have been depicted across different art forms throughout history.

Humans have portrayed animals in art since there have been tools to do so. Through more than twenty exemplary essays, this volume examines both the history of how humans have portrayed animals in art, as well as the robust discourse that has developed on human-animal relations—discourse that includes complex questions engaging Indigenous tradition, eco-feminism, evolutionary biology, animal behavior, animal rights, and technology and bio-engineering. The book is divided into thematically organized sections and includes chapters that range chronologically from early modernity to contemporary artistic and architectural practice, covering spaces such as galleries, museums, and public buildings. The first section is a broad overview of animals in art history; the second section looks forward and considers animals in contemporary art practices from both the perspective of artists and those interpreting and displaying the art. The third and fourth sections explore current efforts by designers, artists, and architects to engage in creative acts with, alongside, and for non-human animals, in practice and pedagogy.

This is an essential, overdue, international, and diverse collection suitable for researchers and students interested in animals throughout art and design.

Elizabeth Sutton is Professor of Art History and Head of the Department of Art at the University of Northern Iowa, USA. She specializes in globalization and power in art as well as active pedagogical research.

With Ned Dodington who is founder and chief editor of The Expanded Environment and an accomplished architect, designer, design thinker, and advocate for non-human animal agency in the built environment.