{"id":37871,"date":"2021-12-17T13:34:35","date_gmt":"2021-12-17T11:34:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scienceofthetime.com\/?p=37871"},"modified":"2021-12-17T13:34:39","modified_gmt":"2021-12-17T11:34:39","slug":"about-humanity-animal-behaviour-and-environmental-identity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceofthetime.com\/dlc\/2021\/12\/17\/about-humanity-animal-behaviour-and-environmental-identity\/","title":{"rendered":"ABOUT HUMANITY, ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR AND ENVIRONMENTAL IDENTITY."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
As life evolves, navigating through stress from our daily lives where climate change, coupled with economic and political uncertainty plays a big role, we are seeking to reconnect with nature in extraordinary ways. Animal behaviour and its relationship with man becomes something we as people are interested in and something we want to feel. It is humans\u2019 innate need to affiliate with other life. Human-animal hybrids, an interspecies celebration, and human claws are things we seek for. We want to explore how we as individuals can include nature as part of our identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Iris van Herpen looked at advanced DNA engineering and the first successful creations of human-animal hybrids called \u2018Cybrids\u2019 for her sculptural couture collection \u2018Shape Shifters\u2019. \u2018Cybrids\u2019 are the mythological dreams of Humankind since the dawn of civilization and are shifting to the canvas of science. A Cybrid is a hybrid cell which, in this case, would be mixed with human and animal genes, which would cause human-animal embryos. While the scientific and ethical implications of \u2018Cybrids are still unclear, this collection of van Herpen expresses the fact that this reality is upon us. Van Herpen thinks the subject of hybrid creatures is important given recent scientific breakthroughs in genetic engineering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor \u2018Shift Souls\u2019 I looked at the evolution of the human shape, it\u2019s idealization through time and the hybridization of the female forms within mythology\u201d said van Herpen. \u201cEspecially the imagination and the fluidity within identity change in Japanese mythology gave me the inspiration to explore the deeper meaning of identity and how immaterial and mutable it can become within the current coalescence of our digital bodies,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Each of the 18 garments, which featured voluminous spheres, elaborately waved forms and laser-cut detailing, were inspired by human-animal hybrids. The collection\u2019s warm colour palette ranged from shades of indigo and purple to ochre and yellow, and included prints that created optical illusions to \u201cdistort the body\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I visited the Dutch Design Week last October, I came across the \u2018WEAR WOLF\u2019 collection by Lea Jenny and was fascinated. The collection was a part of the \u2018Inhuman Carnaval\u2019 exhibition, an interspecies celebration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With Inhuman Carnival, DDW explored adding a new layer to the large-scale escapism that is common at carnival. Can you actively advocate for biodiversity and grow your understanding of non-human beings while you party? We believe that empathizing with a species and making a costume is a good starting point to become more aware of a large abstract problem, such as the loss of biodiversity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The collection \u2018WEAR WOLF\u2019 is made by Lea Jenny, graduate of the design academy of Eindhoven. Over the years, she developed a multidisciplinary approach with a sensibility for cultural phenomena involving style and behaviours. The use of bright colours and irony in her designs invokes humour and joy, which are some of the main characteristics of her vision. Strong visuals attract Lea; she has refined her illustrative and digital skills due to her deep-rooted interest in graphic works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
About the work, she says: \u201cThe werewolf is a mythical animal of the night, an outcast roaming wild and free. But what about our own inner beast? \u2018Wear Wolf\u2019 is an open invitation to embrace our tameless temperament with no apologies for snarling our jaws. Displayed on the spine, ears, claws, chest or mouth, this set of scratchy jewellery, seductive weapons and intimidating ornaments becomes an extension of the body for a transformative experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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HUMAN CLAWS\u200a\u2014\u200ainspired by an animal claw<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Swedish artist and designer Beate Karlsson takes literal shapes, like a hand, and distorts them until they are almost unrecognisable before turning them into a functional object. She is the self-professed \u2018mother of silicone\u2019 and uses the rubbery material to make shoes in the form of human claws in a bid to design never-before-seen items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Claw shoes, which have been 3D printed from a mixture of wood fibres and silicone, take the form of a giant human hand propped up on all four fingers and thumb in the gesture of an animal\u2019s claw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Straps moulded from silicone extend from the top of the shoe to form a sandal that the model can walk in, wearing the claws like stilts. Bows tied across the top of the shoes conceal the wearer\u2019s foot to feed the illusion that they are extensions of their legs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Karlsson describes her work as \u201cfictional fashion\u201d. Her intention, she said, is to create pieces that \u201cbelong in a future imaginary world where there are less norm-driven preconceptions\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been quite passive towards the fashion industry, as the value of design in many ways has been lost in my opinion,\u201d said the artist. \u201cI think I\u2019m part of a group of young designers who feel that imitation has replaced innovation, much due to the consumer society.\u201d The claw-shoes form part of Karlsson\u2019s ongoing project titled X-treme Products, which has seen her create various wearable, tongue-in-cheek items for a hypothetical world determined by the idea of \u201cotherness\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy biggest quest has been to seek otherness and actual innovation when I design,\u201d she continued. \u201cI\u2019m not saying I am creating revolutionary pieces, but I strive to not create designs that are recognisable, since I think that\u2019s what\u2019s interesting about being a designer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI hope it conveys something new and conscious and that it together with other young designers reshapes the landscape of the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSilicone, for me is something I have always been passionate about handcrafting in clay,\u201d she said. \u201cFor me, it\u2019s the best way to communicate a three-dimensional design. You can get an exact shape and there are no limitations if you can master the craft yourself.\u201d Silicone is amazing because you can make moulds from your clay figures, and it is a durable material,\u201d she added. \u201cSo, it\u2019s been great when crafting things like shoes that have to be flexible and strong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why is this interesting as we look at society today?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Human-animal hybrid in contemporary society is about togetherness and feeling one with nature, or so called \u2018Nature Connectedness\u2019. Although we all are connected with nature from our very birth, today\u2019s lifestyle is taking us away from it. Nature connectedness is the extent to which individuals include nature as part of their identity. It includes an understanding of nature and everything it is made up of. Feeling connected by the animal aspect of nature, can be understood through the concept of biophilia and the biophilia hypothesis. This term is defined as humans\u2019 innate need to affiliate with other life such as plants and animals. This essentially means that humans have a desire to be near nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is also about extraordinary escapism. As said by Studio Trend Forecast in November 2021; \u201cWe are living in a state of hyperreality. Navigating through stress from our daily lives\u200a\u2014\u200aconsisting of our offline and our parallel online lives\u200a\u2014\u200aand the continuous stimuli from information and news from all over the world, lets us want to escape reality. The role of a social, shape shifting kind of world to escape in, is increasing psychological resilience. It gives us a sense of power, meaning, relativism and surrender.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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What can we expect from the future?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
As we look at how interesting this is in today\u2019s society, we see a lot going on as we talk about human-animal hybrids, an interspecies celebration and human claws. We see nature connectedness, biophilia hypothesis, and extraordinary escapism. It is all about feeling connected with nature and being away from the busyness of life. The future tells us that we want to explore how we as individuals can include nature as part of our identity. Environmental identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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