A chimpanzee named Bruno had been taught American Sign Language. But instead of answering the researcher’s question, he signed two words: KEY OUT. The researcher asked him to sign again. Bruno shifted his body so that he was facing him more directly and raised his hands to make his meaning unmistakable. OUT KEY OUT. The researcher understood. He signed back: CAN’T SORRY CAN’T. Bruno’s shoulders dropped, and he walked to the back of his cage. Bruno understood that he was confined. He knew that a key could open the cage. He wanted to leave, and he deliberately communicated that desire to […]
The Hidden Cost of Progress: Confronting the reality of animal exploitation
The Hidden Cost of Progress: Confronting the reality of animal exploitation
For centuries, we have defined ‘progress’ almost exclusively through the lens of human advancement. However, as we have pushed the boundaries of innovation, we have simultaneously industrialized the exploitation of sentient beings on an unprecedented scale. True progress should be measured not just by what we can create, but by the compassion with which we create it. If our growth requires the confinement, exploitation, and silencing of other living creatures, we have to ask ourselves: are we actually moving forward, or are we simply becoming more sophisticated in our cruelty? FAUXCROFT WADE: For centuries, we have defined “progress” almost exclusively through […]
‘Requiem for Animals’: How classical music can become a powerful force for animal advocacy
‘Requiem for Animals’: How classical music can become a powerful force for animal advocacy
For a long time, nonhuman animals have appeared within high art. They populate paintings, operas, ballets, literature, sculpture and symphonic music. Yet they have often appeared in service of human concerns. The fox symbolizes cunning, the lamb innocence, the horse nobility, the whale obsession, and the bird freedom. Rather than asking where animals fit within existing artistic traditions, artists are now beginning to reshape those traditions themselves. The nonhuman animal is no longer simply representing humanity. Humanity is being asked to reconsider itself through the reality of the animal. A requiem becomes a requiem for animals, and a gallery exhibition becomes […]
