Idea: Anthropomorphic

Anthropomorphic:

1.     described or thought of as having a human form or human attributes

2.     ascribing human characteristics to nonhuman things

3.     attribution of human motivation, characteristics, or behavior to inanimate objects, animals, or natural phenomena

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anthropomorphic

“It appears we give animal stories to children and encourage them to be interested in animals because we see children as inferior, mentally ‘primitive,’ not yet fully humanized, thus pets and zoo animal stories are ‘natural’ steps in the child’s way up to adult, exclusive humanity—rungs on the ladder from mindless, helpless babyhood to the full glory of intellectual maturity and mastery.”

Ursula K. LeGuin

http://www.articlemyriad.com/150.htm

The more I study nature and biology, the more I see that anthropomorphism gets in the way of understanding animals as well. Certain birds, cats, dogs, and even rodents are intelligent, but thinking of their intelligence merely as inferior to humans is not the whole story. Different forms of intelligence have to be understood on their own terms — not through starting with an archetype of human intelligence and making incremental modifications to that archetype. That sort of thinking can lead to anchoring.

Michael Anissimov

http://www.acceleratingfuture.com/michael/blog/2010/02/revisiting-beyond-anthropomorphism/

Cady, Jasmine, Ana Norenzayan, and Ian G. Hansen. “An Angry Volcano? Reminders of

            Death and Anthropomorphizing Nature.”Social Cognition Vol. 26, No. 2, 2008,

            pp. 190-197. Academic Search Complete. Web. 21 Sept. 2010.

This article explains that anthropomorphizing nature is a powerful and pervasive cognitive tendency. People see faces in clouds and hear voices in the wind. We name our automobiles and scream at electronics. Food items in the shapes of religious figures sell for thousands of dollars.

Anthropomorphism has been around for centuries and is closely tied to religion and mythology. In some aspects of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, nature is viewed as a separate realm from humans. Some Western religious cultures associate nature and the wilderness as sources of threat and uncertainty. In this study, religious and nonreligious participants were asked to assign human characteristics to two natural objects, one being a tree, and the other was a potentially threatening volcano. In the end, the volcano was anthropomorphized less than the tree. They concluded that death awareness reduced the tendency to assign human traits to natural objects and that this effect did not interact with religious background.

Silverstein, Shel. "The Giving Tree." New York: Harper and Row, 1964. 

In relation to my work, this concept has been brought up in my meetings. The subjects in the photos are obvious but the presentation can change everything. The light is “making” the tree and has the ability to make it otherworldly. Depending on how I use it, the plant can convey many different emotions. It can appear real or artificial. Loved or disregarded. Anthropomorphism is also closely related to religion so I feel it is necessary to keep researching in regards to the ritualistic qualities of the images.