Animals, art and activism

This PhD research project has explored concerns regarding the relationship between the manner in which animals are depicted and the way humans think about and treat non-human animals. While there has been substantial interest in animals and animal-human relationships as subject matter for artists and curators in recent years, animals are too often present in these artworks and exhibitions as symbols or metaphors for aspects of the human condition or as generic signifiers for the natural world. The project seeks to aid in redressing this matter through the production of artworks that are overtly informed by what can be loosely termed an 'animal rights' ideology, and which thus operate within the scope of socio-political commentary.