Anatomy Lessons: Michele Beevors as Eco-Political Agent

Abstract

This article responds to the large scale sculptural work by eco-political artist Michele Beevors, whose work has recently been extensively exhibited in New Zealand, Australia, and Austria. She brings her audience close to the tragedies of eco-extinction and the brutalities of human interaction with our vulnerable animal co-species. The article considers her work through four frames: 1. Violence: Dissection and Restitution; 2. Death: Specimen and Requiem; 3. Grief: Solastalgia and Entanglement; and 4. Labour: Materiality and Companionship. Through these four frames, the artist’s exploration of human relationships with non-human forms of life is highlighted as based in decolonial, feminist and activist values. The text includes memories and reflections from the author’s life where relevant to the themes presented by the artist.

Keywords

• Animal Ethics. Care. Eco-political. Extinction. Sculpture. Solastalgia