What is going on in the world right now with the global COVID-19 pandemic shows just how prevalent monsters still are, even though we might like to think that science has everything taped.
Battling the Coronamonster
Animal someones: between the ego and the ecosystem
New blog post: Some thoughts on non-human animal ethics in the wake of Meat the Family and encountering some different perspectives.
Love Island’s Trophy Beef
So, the serried ranks of the enlightened Twitterati, plus all the tabloid readers, have been up in arms about the Love Island contestant, Ollie Williams, who has been outed as a trophy hunter, not just figuratively but also literally. Pictures of him astride conquests such as buffalo, sable antelope and even an eland emerged soon... Continue Reading →
The Mastodon named Leviathan
There is a particularly special fossil in one of the Wonder Bays of the Natural History Museum's Hintze Hall, It is important because of historical interest, being the first fossil skeleton of an American Mastodon, or Mammut Americanum ever constructed. More intriguing is this skeleton's brief stint as a vast, impossible monster and tourist attraction as... Continue Reading →
The Song of the Walrus
In 1521, the head of a sea monster was sent by Bishop Walkendorf of Trondheim to Pope Leo X. On its way south, an artist painted an effigy of the imagined entire creature on the Town Hall in Strasbourg. The mural was accompanied by a poem, the song of the walrus...
Spiritual illusions in Hirst’s ‘Mandalas’
new blog post: Hirst's display, however bright and iridescent its surface, has a dark emotional undercurrent. Even if it has been 'ethically sourced'.
Extinct animals and extant images
Bristol Museum's demonstration of what extinction means highlights the bridging of image and reality that we need to create surrounding the loss of familiar species.
Hive minds 2: swarm behaviour
Simple rules can end up producing complex results. We can turn the idea of a hive mind back to the understanding of our own brains, bodies and societies.
Hive minds 1: hive society
Highly social insects are some of the most fascinating species on the planet: they have transcended the importance of the individual.
