Author Silja Selonen
Title of thesis
"TUOKSUVA TOTEEMI JA ANISPOLGU,
Art for Nonhuman "

Aalto University, Visual Cultures, Curating and Contemporary Art (ViCCA)
Major/ Art and Media
Thesis supervisor Professor Laura Beloff
Thesis advisor(s) Pia Euro University Lecturer
Date 29.12.2024
Number of pages 67
Language Finnish
Research Question:
How and why create art for nonhumans, and can it be considered as art?
Hypothesis: Interspecies art communication is the sending and conscious reception
of a sensory message.

This artistic study is an interdisciplinary essay focusing on art communication with nonhuman entities. I create and install an art exhibition in the boreal forest and its
animals, looking for reasons behind my work. I view art not only as a form of self-expression but also as a sensory message intended for another conscious being. My aim is to find ways to convey my message through the senses of nonhumans. I question whether interspecies communication through art is possible.
Initially I will chronologically explore the artistic process through the sensory world and perspectives of both the author and the receiver. In the following chapters, I will introduce the visitors of the exhibition and analyse the experience as an artist. I reflect on interspecies art communication and the diversity of other species
as part of the natural cycle.
Finally, I propose that art can be understood as interactive play and sensory communication, regardless of species. The thesis includes photographs and game camera shots of artistic work, installation of works and exhibition visits, and the text is punctuated by poems created during the process.

Keywords: nonhuman, ethology, posthumanism, environmental art, senses, artistic research, interspecies communication, art evolution, aesthetic