by Sierra Nelson-Liner, Sofia Linden, and Feona Rehfuss
Our project was created to explore the boundaries, or lack thereof, of art and a given subject. We wanted to start small, so we decided to focus in on rats. By reflecting and sharing our experiences and knowledge we are able to trace the cultural, societal, biological, historical, political, institutional, and accidental actors that influence the perceptions and positionalities of rats.
We are investigating how personal, cultural and institutional contexts influence one’s perception of a subject and how these perceptions determine the way we interact with these subjects. Our scholarship addresses the pitfalls of approaching a subject with a purist perspective, for no one thing exists in singular reality, untouched by others. Through the scholarship of Entangled Identity, Actor Network Theory, and hybridity we hope to explore the various factors and actors that influence a rats place, position, and the political and perceptive discourses around them.
Thinking about the entanglement of a particular topic in terms of the actors associated with it, while mapping them out will allow us to visualize the multitude of political and social institutions that act to influence the spaces, identities and symbols that one subject embodies. Actor Network Theory can help us visualize the entangled and compounding actors that influence a particular subject.
This project involves two workshops that start with an exhibit of student-made art, which reflects their perception of rats. This follows with a discussion of the art, and a concept mapping workshop that explores Actor Network Theory to give fellow students a new tool for organizing/making sense of their thoughts, rather than trying to change their mind. This tool can be used on many other subjects of inquiry.