Cattle Conversations
Assessing and reevaluating relationships between Human Beings and Cattle
Received the PRATT SoD SOCIAL JUSTICE AND SUSTAINABILITY AWARD in the “Sustainability: Change Agent/ Activism” category
Art Direction and Exhibition - Motion Graphics - Illustration - Social Media - Print and Publication - Photography - Cultural Probe - Artificial Intelligence
Why is there a need to change how we perceive Cattle, and the meaning of our relationship with them? How can Communication Design aid in that process, instead of contributing to the objectification of the animal?
These questions have been framed from my own experience with these animals. Shown below are some pictures from my Site Visits to Cattle farms Upstate. Even though I had all this research about how harmless Cattle are, when I came face to face with them, I somehow just couldn’t get myself to touch them, because of how scared I was. In my head, since I hadn’t been around them much, I could very easily be tipped over by these big animals, some with horns! Only when a worker reassured me that these animals were friendly, I went ahead and touched them. Even at an open farm I visited, I insisted we park across the street from them, because I was scared.
I don’t consume beef, I don’t use leather, but I was still scared.
Consumption Patterns do not necessarily determine our perception, and thus our relationship with an animal. Many other behavioural and surrounding aspects come into play. I have chosen Cattle as my subject because they represent the epitome of dependence, and in most cases, abuse, for consumption.
My Thesis, thus, attempts to serve as a blueprint to a new approach to Designing for Animal Welfare— one focused on behaviour, rather than consumption.
Art Direction and Exhibition
Pratt Institute Thesis Exhibition
Snippets from the Exhibition, a zine that sums up my thesis, and fake leather earrings pierced into photo-business cards (original photographs).
Pratt Institute Capstone Exhibition
Through my capstone exhibition, I bring to you four sets of conversations, in different mediums:
Motion Graphics/ Video Editing: Cattle talking to Humans, about how they want to be treated.
Social Media and Illustration: Cattle talking to Cattle, about the inevitable.
Print and Publishing, Photography: Humans talking to Cattle, about their state of being in the middle-ground.
And, Cultural Probes and Print: Humans talking to Humans, about how they would treat different kinds of animals.
Motion Graphics/ Video Editing
A human-established hierarchy puts every non-human living being below them- leading to patterns of objectification, ill-treatment and exploitation. More often than not, we are also oblivious to it, because of how well the capitalist society veils it with layers of false realities for us.
But what if the animal itself told you what it is going through? Talked to you about how, all it wants, is to be treated with love and care as it serves us and gives us what we need? What if it tries to bring you close to them, see things from their perspective? Will we then be able to treat them as equals, and give them the respect they deserve?
Social Media and Illustration
Through Instagram (@fetalconversations), and a booklet, follow the journey of Tara, a four-year-old cow, and mother of two, expecting her third- who is preparing not just for the birth of her calf, but the inevitable separation after its birth too. While she can acknowledge the reasons for this separation, it is still not an easy process- and she has been through it twice now. Through a series of posts, she talks to her unborn child and hopes to prepare it for the event, too.
Print and Publication, Photography
A Letter To Cattle
A person’s choice of using animal products isn’t necessarily because they are cruel or selfish— the problems of the human world, and the complexity of our needs, are what make us compliant in many ways, too. To add to that, people in power (capitalists) feed off these weaknesses and shield the extent of industrial torment from the masses of consumers, keeping us oblivious to what the Cattle, or any utilitarian animal, in fact, is going through.
This book is a letter from me, a regular consumer, to Cattle, acknowledging their sacrifices, and expressing my love for them— a documentation of my own personal journey. Through photographs and words, I tell them how close I feel to them, and how I am able to relate to them— but I’m compliant too.
Cattle Conversations: Thesis Book
Coming soon!
Cultural Probe, Print Media
Is our relationship with animals only limited to whether or not we eat them, or does it go beyond that? Is our perception of them based only on their utility as food or clothing, or is there anything beyond that too? For instance, is there a chance that a vegan, too, is scared of cows, and would react to their presence differently than to the presence of a “cute” animal, like kittens?
The cultural probe is an assessment of that thought process. Participants answered the questions in the booklets, and I realized how different our perception of the two kinds of animals is, even in terms of whether or not we have given the animal enough thought.
The Lenticular Posters support the broader question that I am asking people, using text and images to go with each other.
The Future of Pets: Artificial Intelligence, Print Media
This project proposes the speculative idea of the future of pets. It’s not just cats, dogs and other conventional animals one can have at home. Cattle are now a part of the world of pets too, and everyone’s going crazy over it. It’s all over the internet. It’s a trend.
I collaborated with a number of AI softwares for this project, and gave them prompts to generate pictures of Cattle in pet-like situations, for instance, “Cow sitting on human”, “Calf on a walk with human”, “Cow playing football”, “Cow dressed for Halloween”, and so on.
