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Feb 4th - 14th, 2013 ZOLLER GALLERY The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA Opening Monday Feb 4th, 2013 at 5 pm Abstract Every living thing influences each other to stay in balance in the ecosystem. After millions of years of evolution, we humans have a highly developed civilization, but it has been dependent on countless animals’ lives. The Paleolithic cave paintings in Lascaux caves and pottery with painted decoration from Ancient China all show humans hunting animals for food since prehistory. In contemporary society, we have made so many scientific achievements, but they were based on the use of countless animals’ lives for scientific research and medical tests. However, anthropologists view human history from a human’s perspective, and ethical theorists have paid too much attention to the responsibilities, rights and treatment of humans alone. We should move it further to a broader moral perspective, which includes the concerns of other sentient creatures. All animals on this planet are creatures who share existence with human beings and deserve to be free. However, we human beings are used to our privilege and think we are unique. Human beings are no different from other animals in this world. But animals have been tormented by the human race for too long. We also have high technology and powerful weapons that could kill us many times. We are fighting terrorism and kill people every year, and the ‘enemy’ always represent our desires and fears. We discriminate and we ignore or suppress women's rights. My animations deals with philosophy, cultural studies, visual arts, history, anthropology, mythology and ethical issues such as aggression, racism, and the suppression of people's rights, and asks the viewer to take the animals’ point of view. It shows the relationships between human and human, and between human and nonhuman, but from within other super-intelligent creatures’ world. I developed ancient Egyptian paintings, Cave painting, Mayan art and Chinese ceramics for my animations, and I chose some references from their society for my story to make the world more believable. I explored the context and history of these kinds of art at the same time. In particular, how it relates to humans’ history with animals. In these stories, I presented new insights and provoke people to think about our evolution and culture from a different angle.
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