A paper presented at the Animals and Their People: Fall of the Anthropocentric Paradigm? Internatonal Conference, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland, March 2014

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Abstract:

While animal refuges and preserves seek to re-create animals’ natural habitats, what constitutes the natural habitat of the domestic dog? As a companion to humans for over 12,000 years, has the domestic dog adapted to human living spaces as its natural environment? And what of dogs in a sanctuary or rescue environment, how do caregivers provide a “natural” environment for them? I confront this question as an artist running a dog sanctuary, Free to Be Dog Haven (www.freetobedogs.com). The sanctuary is an extension of my studio practice as I explore human-canine inter-subjectivity and ask how human-canine collaborative space serves as a site for ontological revision.

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My sanctuary owes much to Haraway’s notion of “significant otherness,” acknowledging both human and canine subjectivity in constructing a space we call home. The sanctuary is, in fact, my house that I share with multiple dogs whose perspectives I strive to consider as our space constantly evolves. While much shelter design today defines “home” from a human perspective, I often wonder what home would like to a dog if he or she had the opportunity to design it?

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Not that I dare presume to design from a canine perspective. We can only design from a human perspective, informed by research on canine behavior, health, enrichment, and the history of dog-human relationships. Additionally, however, we can design with the awareness that the human perspective is not the central, governing focus, simply one privileged by resources.

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Ultimately, using Steve Baker’s words, the sanctuary’s work is to “operate other-than-in identity.” Our space evolves with the recognition that identities evolve in relation to one another. Our sanctuary is a space of collaborative being: identities of “human” and “animal” are superseded by a constantly evolving collective identity that defies presumed knowledge and, ultimately, re-imagines human and non-human animal relations.