The scent of flowers, the touch of soil

Abstract

Animal experimentation is a hidden practice preventing people from empathising with the suffering of the test subjects. The artistic research The Scent of Flowers, The Touch of Soil is dedicated to mice and rats who are used in the name of science to create visibility, understanding and connection for the more-than-human world. The thesis looks at the magnitude of the moral disconnection from the earth and advocates for emotional and bodily knowledge in the form of empathy and grief.

The artistic research unfolds through multispecies ethnography that attends to the bonds and reciprocity of mice and rats, soil and flowers against the backdrop of laboratory practices. The thesis intersects moral philosophy, creative writing, academic research and artistic practices, including photography, bookmaking and exhibitions, to expose the ethical flaws in the treatment of other animals.

The work formulates a possible approach to framing animal crisis and proposes rituals of grief as a personal artistic practice and a collective endeavour that embraces bodily and emotional knowledge. Nursing interconnectedness The Scent of Flowers, The Touch of Soil concludes in a hand-made artist book and an exhibition that utilises a gallery space as a site for reconciliation and mourning to amplify empathy.