About
I am an interdisciplinary artist working in drawing, photography and video of related subject matter. Most of the ideas that inform my work come from social theory and the biological sciences but are applied in a more speculative fashion. I am particularly interested in the complex kinds of social exchanges that are best understood visually or at the level of physiological response. For this reason much of my work has focused on appetite, sexuality and aggression. The humor found in my work is perhaps the only way to respond to the realization that we have far less control over our actions than we like to think we have.
For the past several years I have been working on multi-disciplinary projects that compare primate and human behavior. My interest in this is tied to the question of what is human?
This question has captivated many in the field of evolutionary biology but artists too are looking and asking similar questions. In making these comparisons I am reaching for a better understanding of the way biology guides our own actions as well as asking, How captive do we want to be by these impulses?
My work alternates between both serious and humorous responses to these questions.
Research for these projects took me to Yerkes Primate Research Center in Atlanta where I first met primatologist Frans de Waal and Amy Pollick, whose own research focuses on gestural communication in primates. I was able to follow this up with a residency at Wild Animal Park in Escondido, California. At WAP numerous hours of video and photographs were taken of bonobo life that are now part of my ongoing series. Although my initial interest in this subject focused on looking at the roots of human aggression found in primate social structures I have now become interested in the broader spectrum of behavior of which much is a kin to our own.
Interview With Alison Ruttan
Bad at Sports: Pod Cast, Episode 28. March 2006
Listen To The Podcast
General Information On Primates
Assorted Links
Bonobo Information At The San Diego Zoo
Chimpanzee Information At The San Diego Zoo
Living Links Center At Emory University
Great Ape Trust
Nova Special: The Last Great Ape Website
Bonobo Conservation Initiative
William H. Calvin's Bonobo Page
Primate Photo Gallery
Chimp Vocalizations
Primate Articles
The Smart and Swinging Bonobo
Our Inner Ape
The Brutal Ape vs. The Sexy Ape?
Artist Links
Selected Photos By Marian Brickner
Bushmeat
The Bushmeat Crisis, Article At The San Diego Zoo
Website For The Bushmeat Crisis Task Force