Freed lab rats
1 2018-08-29T00:48:43-07:00 Sigi Jöttkandt 4115726eb75e75e43252a5cbfc72a780d0304d7d 30986 1 Recent scientific studies have revealed that all individuality exists in all animals. For mice, social environment is a major factor in shaping this. Rachele Totaro photographs recently rescued lab rats and mice during their first moments of being freed from cages and being outdoors. The rats’ sense of joy and curiosity reminds us that humans and animals are much more biologically and socially close than we recognise. Totaro’s photography calls for an ethical reconsideration of how we treat the ‘other’, particularly through the lens of empathy and seeing nature as existing with us, not for us plain 2018-08-29T00:48:43-07:00 Sigi Jöttkandt 4115726eb75e75e43252a5cbfc72a780d0304d7dThis page is referenced by:
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2018-08-21T07:32:57-07:00
Animal Worlds
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Amy Huang, Natasha Stavreski and Rose Rzepa
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2018-08-29T14:02:50-07:00
"chimera"
From the Oxford English Dictionaryan organism containing a mixture of genetically different tissues, formed by processes such as fusion of early embryos, grafting, or mutation.
Photo Essay
Flowers for Algernon
Close reading
In Flowers for Algernon, the trope of the animal is used to criticise human exceptionalism and raise ethical questions of how we treat other living beings; both animal and human. The role of Algernon, the laboratory mouse, is utilised to highlight thematic considerations of how intellect is used to separate humans from non-humans and consequently exposes how the human standards of measuring intelligence, which relies on language and quantitative data, block any empathetic understanding of consciousness within animal forms. When Charlie introduces the mouse, it is an emphatic statement, ‘They called the mouse Algernon’. Through the name, the mouse is personified. Yet, Keyes draws on science fiction motifs of experimental elevation on non-human beings, demonstrating that Algernon remains an object for the human to own and master. Through the labeling of Algernon and manipulation of his intelligence, the scientists are able to maintain human-animal divide. Consequently, the recognition of the other is constrained by the imbalanced value granted to rationality, enabling the dehumanisation of and violence towards other beings.
However, the dichotomy of intellect versus animality becomes blurred when Keyes explores the relationship between Algernon and Charlie, two individuals who for a time, both share the same metrics of intelligence (according to the scientific experimentation they are both subjected to). Charlie states, ‘Everyone identifies me with Algernon’, reflecting that idea that the animal is used to allegorise the marginalised other, who falls outside the standard conception of what it means to be human (p. 300). Algernon is used to foreshadow the tragic fate of Charlie, compelling audiences to contemplate the consequences of human interference in nature. When Charlie surpasses Algernon he is able to comprehend both the ethical and intellectual spheres of consciousness that his other human peers cannot. As Mrs Kinnian remarks, “for a person who god gave so little to you done more then a lot of people with brains they never even used.” (Pg.n. 7)
In narrating the relationship between Algernon and Charlie, Keyes calls his readers to possess deeper notions of understanding, empathy, and reverence to all living beings just as Charlie is able to conceptualize. The simultaneous development between the two represents a form of intra-action as the hierarchy between human and animal is subverted by the humanisation of the test subject. He examines the treatment of human (Charlie) subject and mouse (Algernon) subject as independent beings; not giving primacy to one organism or the other by dissecting the concept of non-human animal (NHA) ‘Uplift,’ (Faderman, 2015) that painfully engages the animals to enhance their abilities to fit human standards. The concerning process disrupts the biological order and reminds us to acknowledge the importance of all forms of life where non-human animals are equal to every part.Bibliography
Keyes, Daniel. Flowers for Algernon. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2007. Web.
Roy-Faderman, Ina. "The Alienation Of Humans And Animals In Uplift Fiction". Midwest Studies In Philosophy, vol 39, no. 1, 2015, pp. 78-97. Wiley
Written by:
Amy Huang, Rose Rzepa, Natasha Stavreski
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2018-08-29T14:11:25-07:00
Animal Worlds: Photo essay
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Exploring the world of the 'chimera'
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2018-10-30T01:29:15-07:00
"chimera"
from the Oxford English Dictionary.an organism containing a mixture of genetically different tissues, formed by processes such as fusion of early embryos, grafting, or mutation.
A hybrid organism containing animal and non-animal cells becomes an unrecognisable beast living amongst the natural order. This new generation enables bio-medical research to advance investigations, and transform them into existence through the creation of chimeras.Photo essay
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2022-11-20T17:10:55-08:00
Empathy for the 'other'
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2022-11-20T17:10:55-08:00
Totaro’s photography casts animals in an empathetic light, displaying the commonalties in human and animal behaviours. It allows us to see nature as both the ‘other’ and as a part of us, tapping into the ethical bounds of how we treat them. When I look at this recued lab rat, I feel empathy. I feel a certain misery as I see his tired little eyes rest with relief. He rests in the crevasses of a human palm, warm and safe. I see the irony in this as it is the human palm that inserts the lethal injection at the end of the experimental day. It is the human palm that emits carbon dioxide to suffocate these creatures. The salience of this image is the rat’s face, but as I look deeper, I am drawn to its paw resting on the human’s knuckle. It is a sign of Transcorporeality, where human life overlaps with nonhuman. This gentle encounter is one of trust, empathy, and safety. The rat squeaks “thank you” while the human embraces a little tighter.
To see nature as existing with us, and not for us is a perspective I think should be normalised for humans. This connects to the previous student’s e-concept of The Sonderweb, where it explains how human and non-human beings exist in a collective space and with equal validity, dependent on one another. The rat’s comfort in this image reveals that humans and animals are behaviourally close, obfuscating any stigmas of hierarchy where animals are seen as less than humans. Photography as such is a powerful vessel for connecting with the natural world, allowing us to see and feel the interconnectedness with the nature.
Elle Andreopoulos