Browse Exhibits (14 total)
Control, Free Will, and Puppetry: Our Perceptions and Control Over Non-Human Animals and their Souls
Humans were never meant to treat non-human animals as puppets, yet it has become clear that that is the role we have adopted in the animal kingdom. This exhibit contains a 2-part presentation of in depth analysis regarding the way humans control non-human animals, with a focus on how we remove them from the framework of society and attach completely different rules to their existence. A creative aspect of analysis focuses on Chen Qiufan's "Balin," followed by an analytical piece on puppetry and zoopoetics in Yasunari Kawabata's "Of Birds and Beasts."
Freedom is an Illusion: A Critical View on Autonomy, Submission, and the Misogynistic Framework
This exhibit explores the intersection between feminism and misogyny, as well as between submission and violence. By drawing comparisons between Park Yonghui's "The Hound", and Ken Liu's "Good Hunting", these ideas can be explored and a nuanced analysis of both can be drawn.
-Jeanna Boltz
Through the Topic of “Minorities”: A Discussion on Empathy and Its Role in Challenging the Desire for Power and Dominance
Empathy not only creates interpersonal bonds, it also fosters human-animal bonds. Animals display behaviors that suggest the possession of some form of empathy, and such behaviors evoke the sense of empathy in humans due to their dynamic relationships with these animals. In literature, animals are often portrayed as under the control of humans. The therianthropic image of a half human-half animal creature and a literate polar bear will be analyzed in this particular exhibition. While these creatures struggle to explore their own identities as they are categorized as the “minority”, their interactions with humans often make humans themselves come to self-reflection. Self-reflection is crucial for understanding the nature and development of empathy. Intricacies between empathy and self-reflection are well discussed in the selected works of “Balin” by Chen Qiufan and Memoirs of a Polar Bear by Yoko Tawada.
Breaking the Mold: Wolf Representation and Imagery in East Asian Literature
This exhibition explores the representation of wolves in the context of chaotic times, spanning from the 20th century to the post-human era. By comparing three works rooted in East Asian culture: Lu Xun’s The Misanthrope, Tsushima Yūko’s Laughing Wolf, and Kim Bo-young’s Last of the Wolves, it aims to discover the interaction between human and wolf figures, capturing the clash of conflicting forces between corruption and modernity under the influence of an unstable zeitgeist.
Listening to the Voices of the Silenced: An Analysis on the Utilization of Animals as Allegorical Messages for Political Commentary
When analyzing the relationship between government and media, a comparison can be made to the dynamic that exists between mankind and animals. Governments and humans stand for rigid constructs, social hierarchies, and asserting power to maintain strength and security. Media and animals emulate a more liberated nature, turning away from pre-established regulations and finding ways to exist despite the dominance that tries to overpower them from the former pair mentioned. While governments and humans try to silence and exert power over media and animals, the latter have found ways to maintain their autonomy over their own independence and such can be seen when the two are combined to act as a criticism of these human-centric institutions. This exhibition will analyze how different mediums of media (literature, film, and art) have used animals and nature to serve as allegorical criticisms on the failure of governments and mankind to defend themselves against the censorship and constraint they experience.
Science Fiction, Fantasy, and AI
This exhibit explores the ups and downs of AI, and its use for science fiction works.
