I started going to the zoo in Seattle in spring 2017. I had heard a news report the previous fall that predicted 2/3 of the world’s wildlife would be gone by 2020. Around the same time, I heard another report that the giraffe population in the wild was in a moment of rapid decline. And we know here that the orca populations are struggling. I felt I needed to spend time with the animals nearest to me. My times at the zoo have been layered, complicated experiences that I’m still working to understand. As I started to put together footage for this show, I realized this is a much bigger project that needs to be taken slowly and to have moments of public exhibition as it takes shape. That creates a structure of accountability that I’m finding critical as I try to create art that honors these animals. These are some questions that come to mind as I’m at the beginning of this.

Can I witness these animals? Can I witness these animals without narrating them, or my experience? How does the structure of the zoo – the structure of captivity (and the premise of conservation/education) – impact and inform my viewing? And shape what I’m even able to conceive of or attempt to do here? Why do we try to translate, narrate, interpret, project meaning onto, mirror, romanticize, become fascinated with, deny, ignore, or otherwise control other beings’ consciousnesses? And then though, what will we lose when we lose the animals? Why do we live how we live When did it start? How did I learn how to live? How will I learn how to die? What happens to life purpose when we don’t center kids? When we do? Why does centering kids in our dominant culture seem like such an infantilizing process, for all involved? Is it because of what we’re trying to teach them? How do I need to change my life and my ways of being to help create the conditions of/for conservation? Animal life? What is the power here? (to the animals) What does it feel like to move your body? Are we prepared for extinction? How do I not use these animals?