GB
The dog is labelled a ‘mans best friend’ historically and a significant link in behavioural similarities are show through there imitating behaviours between them and their owners. Some breeds in particular look constantly angry because of the excessive skin they carry, specifically in puppies, Sharpeis, bulldogs and Bloodhounds. The skin that these dogs carry encourages conflict emotions of sadness and aggression where they look as though they are constantly frowning. I will be looking at elements of the brows/foreheads of each to recreate a detailed analysis in the form of a sculpt which I will mould and apply to a models forehead. This will finally symbolise the boundary between human and animal behaviours and a regressed primal self.
Above Images:
Pinterest. (n.d.). Adorable Animals. [online]. Available from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/182044009907649681/[Accessed 13 February 2015].
Pinterest. (n.d.). Sweet. [online]. Available from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/443604632016898000/[Accessed 13 February 2015].
Pinterest. (n.d.). My Future Dog. [online]. Available from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/441634307179458579/[Accessed 13 February 2015].
Pinterest. (n.d.). Animals. [online]. Available from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/176344141634764379/[Accessed 13 February 2015].
Pinterest. (n.d.). Best bully sticks. [online]. Available from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/57350595224987035/[Accessed 13 February 2015].
MAMMALS & COMMUNICATION
For, however much we raise ourselves above our relatives, the human species is just one of the 4,000 or so mammal species on our planet.
Mammal:
Firstly, mammals have fur or hair. Many have it all over their bodies; we do too, although it is more conspicuous on our heads. Secondly, mammals are “warm-blooded” A more correct term would be ‘homoeothermic’, meaning that a constant internal body temperature is maintained, usually above that of the environment, rather than adjusting to the temperature of the surroundings. In this way, mammals can stay active even in cold conditions. Thirdly, mammals feed their young on milk.
To the untrained eye, this 15 month old baby and 2-year old chimp look quite different. Yet chimps are probably our closest living relatives. They share 99 percent of our genes. Their body structure is startlingly similar to ours. Their behaviour, too, is full of ‘human’ traits. A chimp can solve problems, talk in sign language, and make and use tools. As our knowledge widens, it seems that in many ways humans are not as distinctive among mammals as we once thought.
Above images and below text: Parker, S., Taylor, K. and King, D. (2003) Mammal (Eyewitness). United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd.
Growing Up:
Compared to other animals, mammal parents invest a lot of time and energy in their young. In general, they have only a few offspring, but they look after them well. The young are cleaned, fed, kept warm, protected, taught and generally cared for until they are self-sufficient. Human parents spend many years raising their children.
Communicate by touch:
Very important for some species and may be used to comfort, to establish dominance or maintain bonds. Monkeys cement social bonds within their group by grooming one another, an activity that also removes parasites and dead skin. Female monkeys also often hold, cuddle and comfort their young. Bear cubs wrestle with each other both to establish dominance and to play fight.
Above: Animals may not communicate socially on a human level but they communicate necessarily to inform or bond with one another. A quality, which both humans and mammals have, but mammals are free to express their raw emotions, as they aren’t bound by the natural laws of society.
Sohns, J. and Sohns, C. (no date) ‘Mammal Communication’, Discovering Wildlife 6- The Ultimate Factfile MMII.
Above: The chimps behaviours listed reflect the behaviours between the mother gorilla and her new born which I was able to witness in London Zoo. It was interesting to see the animals mimicking human behaviours. The fascination is talked about in humanity (animal behaviours in humans) an issue in modern culture, which will be discussed in a literature review
Keeping eye contact:
Many mammals have good eyesight, so visual signals are crucial. Some are fleeting, such as a wolf raising its hackles and starinto to show aggression, or lowering its body and flattening its ears to indicate submission.
Discovering wildlife (1996). London: Sensory Trust.
Champion communicators:
After humans, chimpanzees are the most intelligent communicators in the animal world., ‘talking’ to each other through a huge range of vocalizations, hand gestures, body postures and facial expressions. Chimps are highly social animals and communication helps each chimpanzee to guess the intentions of others- deciding who is dominant, for instance, who is in a bad mood and therefore best avoided, and who is friendly.
A female lowland gorilla called Koko has been taught 1,000 words of sign language, and understands about 2,000 words of spoken English.
Identification:
The white spots behind the Bengal tigers ears helps other tigers to identify it in the gloom of the jungle, while its heavily muscled shoulders and front limbs are designed for maximum power to pull down prey.
Sohns, J. and Sohns, C. (no date) ‘Mammal Communication’, Discovering Wildlife, 1- The Ultimate Factfile MMII.
Cats:
After humans, chimpanzees are the most intelligent communicators in the animal world., ‘talking’ to each other through a huge range of vocalizations, hand gestures, body postures and facial expressions. Chimps are highly social animals and communication helps each chimpanzee to guess the intentions of others- deciding who is dominant, for instance, who is in a bad mood and therefore best avoided, and who is friendly.
A female lowland gorilla called Koko has been taught 1,000 words of sign language, and understands about 2,000 words of spoken English.
Identification:
The white spots behind the Bengal tigers ears helps other tigers to identify it in the gloom of the jungle, while its heavily muscled shoulders and front limbs are designed for maximum power to pull down prey.
Sohns, J. and Sohns, C. (no date) ‘Mammal Communication’, Discovering Wildlife, 1- The Ultimate Factfile MMII.
Making Faces:
Chimpanzees use a kind of language to tell each other important information about their surroundings and intentions. They use many facial expressions, and utter various shouts and grunts. The tame chimps have learned our own sign language, using their hands to communicate with people.
Above and below: WALTERS, M. and Johnson. (1999). Animals of the World. United Kingdom: Parragon Plus. Page 247.
The dog family includes wolves, foxes and jackals, as well as the familiar domestic dog, which was probably bred from the grey wolf. All of the carnivores are strong and agile, with long legs for distance running, muscular bodies, sharp toothed jaws and keen sense of sight, hearing and especially smell. The grey wolfs strength; stamina and cunning are famed in myth and legend. It is the largest of the dog family.
All of the above qualities relate to the cases of the ‘Wolf children’ (Candland, 1993). Where two young girls were found living with a wolf pack in the wild. They remained animal in behaviour but in a human form and where unable to be educated, after years of separation from humanity. They displayed behaviours which they had learned from their wolf mother and were deemed ‘uncivilized’, a case which will be discussed in a literature review. The display of their wild nature has lead me to look at survival instincts in humans and animal behaviours,
I want to create a make up which reflects primal personalities without looking too much like a human/ hybrid and I may create a body paint or a small prosthetic piece for the look, I would like it to symbolize ferality ‘the release of a civilized being into the wild’ (Candland, 1993. P.347)
 |
|---|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Life of Mammals, Meat eaters. Series 1. Episode 5. (2002). BBC Discovery Chanel. 03 January. [Television]
Notes Taken:
-Dogs communicate by smell [all]. Hyena- scent comes from a pouch beneath their tails and proclaims who and how they are. They also use this to mark their territory.
-Dogs are sociable animals, biggest of all of the dog family is ‘wolves’. They need to be able to communicate one another, they howl to re-unite themselves.
-Strict hierarchy between male and females- bonding session, they enjoy each others company.
Lions:
-Most lions do most of their hunting at night, They rarely roar through the day as it is for resting. They have sensitive eyes, more so than humans. They communicate through roaring back and forth to one another at night.
-Membrane in the back of the eyes means they can see eight times better than humans can. They hunt together and help one another bring up their young. A nursing mother will allow cubs belonging to others to take their milk. Such cooperation and tolerance is remarkable for cats (unusual)
-Most cats are solitaries, living and hunting by themselves. Cheetahs are the fastest things on four legs, they are extremely agile.
-It is surprising that humans and tigers do not cohabitate easily together because they both enjoy the same meat.
Life of Mammals | S1:E5 | Meat Eaters
David Attenborough, BBC Discovery Documentary
Life of Mammals | S1:E1 | A Winning Design
David Attenborough, BBC Discovery Documentary
Life of Mammals, A Winning Design. Series 1. Episode 1. (2002). BBC Discovery Chanel. 04 January. [Television]
Notes Taken:
Both human and fox will not freeze to death because they are mammals and warm blooded- they are insulated with fur, mammals are varied and astonishing.
-Some hunting mammals are the fastest creatures on earth, they fight for mates, for food and some, for a place to live.
-In some places they congregate in astronomical numbers.
Mammalian Dynasty:
-Beginnings, Australia: Mammals have hair, they are fuelled by food for energy and only mammals produce milk.
-They are protected within the womb during the early development months.
-Multitudinous variations- warm blooded fur covered body, a ‘winning design’.
EMOTIONS & FACIAL EXPRESSION:
(no date) Imgarcade. Available at: http://www.ligers.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/Are_Ligers_Intentionally_Bred.jpg (Accessed: 10 February 2015).
Animals communicate through facial expression and a lot of the focus is in their eyes. I am interested in the relevance of the pure emotions they display, which are restricted in humans, facially. Humanity lives by a set of natural laws, in order to successfully live in coherence with one another and emotions are often hidden behind these restrictions. Where as facial expressions in animals, particularly domesticated dogs, is the only way to which we ‘believe’ that we can understand their thoughts and imaginably communicate with them.
Left: Notice the wrinkling of this lion brow, the skin folds are remarkable and almost defy the anatomical structure of its face. The folds run accurately in coherence with the muscle structures beneath and the excess skin is forced to crease, creating permanent folds across the forehead.
Below: Wild, G. (2011) ‘The New Drug Dealer “Guard Dog”’, Big Cat Rscue, 1 April.
Right: The lioness has similar markings except the skin doesn’t seem to be as loose and therefore the creases lie vertically. The upper eyelids are interestingly marked; they hang because of the excess weight in the brows and this is an element I would like to sculpt for a prosthetic brow piece. I want to display repressed primal desires and a regressed self on a human being, facially, through a prosthetic brow piece. The piece will represent hidden emotion and anger in a person and will be without fur. I want the piece to look human like, more a reflection of a personality rather than a human/animal hybrid and to do this I will sculpt pores into the sculpt and paint it flesh tones.
Below: Townsquareentertainment (n/d) Pretty Kitty, FanPop. Available at: http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/tigers/images/25208261/title/pretty-kitty-photo (Accessed: 17 February 2015).
Initially I looked at tigers and their expressional faces but the emotion looks to be central, around the nose and mouth, rather than across the forehead, the area where I would like the point of focus to be on the models face. I need to look at mammal brows, which aren’t necessarily angry or displaying emotion, but naturally wrinkled because of the excess- loose skin they hold across the forehead.
Below: Hinton, C. (2013) ‘Photoshop Tutorials’, Thedimwitdiary, 25 June.
The closes animal species to humans is the ‘domesticated dog’, humans often believe they can communicate with their dogs intimately and socially, understanding their thought processes by reading their facial expressions and gestures. i.e.- wagging of tails showing excitement or joy. The facial expression of the dog descendant- wolf doesn’t necessarily change in a state of joy or aggression, besides its snarling nose there aren’t many skin folds because it is designed to be agile and slender, a hunter.
The wolf is represented fictionally to be a fearful and aggressive creature and in the GRIMM TV episodes, humans are seen visually transforming into their repressed selves as ‘wolves’. I have discussed GRIMM in an appraisal and the series enabled me to consider my own interpretation of the aggressive emotion through the prosthetic brow piece, a prosthetic that represents the boundary between humans and their closest animal companions, the domesticated dog.
Domesticated Dogs: Pets
Left and below: A video and pictures of my mums dog, a pure breed British bull. The wrinkling on its forehead from its excess skin means that it always looks angry. The wrinkling is good for reference towards a brow sculpt, however, I would like to look at dogs with more exaggerated skin folds. i.e. Sharpei, Bloodhounds and other breeds of Bulldogs.
Brow Focus: Dogs
 |
|---|
 |
 |
 |
 |