HYPNOGOGIC ZOO: February 2012

The best thing about zoos is the juxtaposition of schlubby gawkers lost in space and graceful athletes making the most of their spatial confinement.

HYPNOGOGIA - VIVID DREAMLIKE SENSATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE WAKING-SLEEP TRANSITION STATE.

This site is generally about our visceral, inexplicable, and sometimes ecstatic connection to animals and/or artistic representations of animals. It attempts to understand what animals mean to us both as living creatures and as powerful symbols that reach deep into our mind's eye and shape many aspects of our own consciousness.

Anthroporphism is something we seem biologically programed to do. As humans, we are prone to sentimentalize objects, ideas, and of course, animals to fit our perceptual, behavioral, and emotional apparatus. Since we can never fully comprehend the inner life of an animal, how shall we treat their "otherness" as we share life on Earth together? With respect to be certain. Still, we are left with our own skewed and humanized impressions, which manifest over and over in our culture - powerful reminders of our chosen "departure" from the nature and our animal cousins.

Topics on the site include: Animals, Art, Animals in Art, Anthropomorphism, Human-Animal relations, Anthrozoology, Zoomorophism, Neuroaesthetics, Otherness, Aesthetic Anthrozoolopomorphism, Ethology, Imagination & Creativity, Symbols, Sensory Triggers, Expressions of Animal Creativity, Instant Jolting Reactions that Large Dangerous Animals Impart, Visual Cues as Power in the Animal Kingdom, The Wild, Animal Consciousness, Inner v. Outer, Animal Totems, Natural Beauty, Natural Violence, Animal Ethics, Animal Emotions, Animal Facial Expressions, Animal Intelligence, Animal Dreams, Animal Spirits, The Animal Gaze, Coloration, Camouflage, Markings, Pelts, Coats, Chromatophores, Bioluminescence, Companion Species, Food Chains, Dreams & Nightmares, Danger, The Chase, The Human Animal, Non-human Narrative, Zoo, Experimental Zoo, Born in Captivity v. Wild, Menagerie, Bestiary, Cryptozoology, Chimera, Surrealism, Dreams, Animal Guides, Meaning v. Instinct, Metamorphosis, Interspecies Communication, Civilization v. Non-civilization, Uncivilized Beauty, Film, Photography, Travel, Safari, Expedition, Africa, India, Japan, Thailand, Australia, Asia, Deep Sea Big 5, Lions, Tigers, Elephants, Zebras, Big Cats, Great Apes, Taxidermy, Eccentric Zoologists, Explorers & Naturalists, Taxidermied Dens & Libraries, Strange Animal Anecdotes, Mythology, The tumultuous and overlapping cultures of humans and animals through history and art history, and the places where people and animals interact in unusual ways. It won't always be pretty, but hopefully fascinating.

Enjoy and thank you for visiting! Your host - Pablo Gazpachot

HYPNOGOGIC ZOO

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Which side of the glass is empty?

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HYPNOGOGIA - VIVID DREAMLIKE SENSATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE WAKING-SLEEP TRANSITION STATE.