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New Julie Andreyev Book Takes Aim at Colonial Worldviews Through 鈥楳ultispecies鈥 Art Practice

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By Perrin Grauer

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Lessons from a Multispecies Studio documents the ongoing work of the artist, researcher and 麻豆视频 faculty member to reveal the interconnectedness of human life to flora, fauna and ecologies鈥攖hrough creativity.

A new book from artist and 麻豆视频 faculty member traces her art practice through its focus on revealing the deep and abiding interconnectedness of human and non-human life.

Titled , Julie鈥檚 book is grounded in the link between social and ecological injustice, both of which are perpetuated by a historical worldview that puts human beings at the top of an existential pyramid.

鈥淲hat I鈥檓 offering in this book are some practical means to critique and change our views 鈥 and these methods are rooted in art practice,鈥 she says, adding that one way this process can begin is by harnessing creativity to rethink and 鈥渞e-feel鈥 relationships with our non-human neighbours.

鈥淲e, as artists, are really good at noticing, looking, listening, touching and paying attention to the world, and also paying attention to our inner worlds. One way to develop our relationship with nonhuman worlds is by working through empathy and identification. Using outward-moving attention towards non-human worlds and inward reflection on how we feel can open up feelings of kinship.鈥

Fig 4 dogs Tom Sugi on lead copy

Julie鈥檚 dogs Sugi and Tom walking cooperatively together on their own lead. (Photo courtesy Julie Andreyev)

Lessons from a Multispecies Studio uses specific examples from Julie鈥檚 life, research and art practice to demonstrate how opportunities to cultivate this sustained, close attention are around us, all the time. In documenting the various ways she has collaborated with animals and plant life to produce her art and research, Julie reveals new ways of thinking about creativity and how humans are not the only creatures capable of creative acts.

鈥淚n the book, I invite readers to consider that all life is creative,鈥 Julie says. 鈥淓ach being must adapt and respond to emergent situations of their world, and therefore, each individual is world-building. Creativity is imminent to life.鈥

Beginning with an account many of us might relate to 鈥 of a years-long relationship with her beloved dogs 鈥 the book draws readers through a series of real-world encounters with animals, plants and ecosystems. But readers needn鈥檛 worry that a companion animal or access to wild spaces are the only ways to build a closer relationship with non-human worlds. The second chapter of the book, titled Crows and Stones, details Julie鈥檚 ongoing, creative encounters with a family of communicative crows who inhabit the territory that includes her home. A project called Crow Stone Tone Poem began in 2016 when Julie was gifted a stone by a local crow couple (featured on the book鈥檚 cover) to whom she鈥檇 been providing fresh water.

CSTP MOSAIC

Top L: The crow鈥檚 original pebble gift with Julie鈥檚 pebble response on top | Top R: The crow鈥檚 rearrangement of Julie鈥檚 response | Bottom L: Julie鈥檚 new 鈥渕ore robust鈥 arrangement | Bottom R: The crow鈥檚 rearrangement of Julie鈥檚 robust arrangement. (All photos courtesy Julie Andreyev)

鈥淎s a result of this exchange, we developed interspecies play, using pebble arrangements, each taking turns to adapt each other鈥檚 arrangement,鈥 she writes. The chapter springboards from that anecdote to look at subjects such as the subtle intelligence of this bird species, and the many ways stones have been used to create meaning in human cultural production. The chapter gives numerous examples of how the crows communicated with her using gifts of materials and objects, and details how these encounters inspired new art, such as her Bird Park Survival Station.

The book, in this way, moves outward to show the interconnection of the author 鈥 and, by extension, the reader 鈥 to wider and wider ecological spheres. From the domestic (her pet dogs) and the urban (the crows), Julie then looks at salmon populations and the Fraser River, and ultimately regional forest ecosystems.

But Lessons from a Multispecies Studio is clear: working to become closer to non-human worlds isn鈥檛 merely an exercise in personal fulfillment. Taken together, the stories and studies in Julie鈥檚 book illustrate the point that moving away from 鈥渄etrimental beliefs in the exclusivity of humans and towards an understanding of the interconnected reality of life鈥 is 鈥渆ssential to the survival鈥 of human and non-human peoples alike.

鈥淭he precarity of this moment, and the need for change, is what motivated me to write this book,鈥 she writes. All manner of human inequity and oppression as well as today鈥檚 climate emergency are tied to the view that humans are better than 鈥 and apart from 鈥 the world in which they live. In other words, contemporary injustices can all be traced back to anthropocentric views based on 鈥渃olonial and extraction-based cultures鈥 of thought and production, Julie says.

Fig 38 river salmon

Still from production video for Julie Andreyev鈥檚 Salmon People. (Photo courtesy the author)

鈥淎 view that holds humans as separate and exclusive is not only ecologically problematic but evolutionarily untrue,鈥 she writes. 鈥淔urthermore, its outcomes are tremendously detrimental to nonhuman life and consequential for human populations.鈥

The recognition that all lifeforms are creative and worthy of care and respect is part of contributing to a world grounded in justice for all living beings, Julie says. It鈥檚 also a part of shaping a sustainable future.

鈥淲e need to acknowledge the damaging effects of colonialism and resource extraction and feel its effects,鈥 she writes. 鈥淲e need to forge a path of care to support the multispecies communities that make up the living Earth. This book provides a way to walk, albeit with humble steps, along a trail of connection with nonhuman beings and the ecologies we share.鈥

Fig 68 after julietree EDIT

Production photo for Wild Empathy project, showing Julie doing sound recording on location in an old-growth forest on Vancouver Island, BC. (Photo courtesy Simon Lysander Overstall / Julie Andreyev)

Funding for some of the research activities that led to the publication of Le