Trailcams, surveys, and billboards – a few of the tools artist Leila Armstrong is using to engage the public in her art-based research project, Backyard Wilderness. In this episode, we discuss how this project helps us reflect on our relationship with nature, how science methodology feeds art methodology and vice-versa, and how art leads us to a better understanding of urban ecology.
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Show Notes:
Featured in this episode:
Leila Armstrong An artist and graduate student at the University of Lethbridge interested in documenting urban wildlife within Lethbridge city limits.Referenced in this episode:
Backyard Wilderness
A graduate art/research project by Leila Armstrong that involves capturing images of animals such as coyotes, deer, rabbits, raccoons, skunks (and other nocturnal explorers) in people’s backyards using trail cameras (weatherproof cameras that are motion-triggered).
Strange Tools: Art and Human Nature by Alva Noë
Philosopher, Alva Noë presents his theory of why humans make art and its role in shaping society through ‘level 2’ activities (part of the inspiration for the name of the lab).