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2 Rel.: Beyond Anthropocentrism 27 (2014)
Alpha: The Figure in the Cage

handle is hein.journals/relations2 and id is 159 raw text is: Alpha: the Figure in the Cage Juliet MacDonald Research Assistant in the School ofArt, Design and Architecture, University ofHuddersfield doi: 10.7358/rela-2014-002-macd J.Macdonald@hud.ac.uk ABSTRACT Drawing is sometimes referred to as a definitively human activity. In this article drawings by nonhuman animals, particularly primates, are discussed as evidence that the activity is not essentially or exclusively human. In particular the research focuses on one chimpanzee, Alpha, whose drawings were the subject of an experiment in Gestalt psychology published in 1951. The article traces her early life as the first chimpanzee to be born as part of a breeding program established by Robert Yerkes, whose scientific project has been critically examined by Donna Haraway (1989, 1991). Alpha was cared for in the home of two scientists in infancy but later moved to an enclosure with other chimpanzees. Alpha's desire to draw is shown to have developed in the context of both human contact and physical captivity. Sub- sequent citations of the drawing experiment with Alpha are discussed as evidence that draw- ings by nonhuman primates have provoked academic interest, although commentators are cautious in attributing significance to them. The continuing potential of Alpha's drawings to generate discussion and challenge anthropocentric assumptions is suggested as the disruptive legacy of this particular laboratory animal within the process of knowledge production. Keywords: Drawing, chimpanzee, psychology, gesture, Yerkes, Haraway, labora- tory, animal, painting, primate. 1. INTRODUCTION For at least the past 10 years her behaviour with pencil and paper has been essentially as at present. During this time she has never been directly rewarded for drawing, and it is quite evident that the activity does not involve social rewards. If possible she retires with her paper to a far side of the cage (in pre-experimental period), turns her back to the observer, works for a time with complete preoccupation, and eventually tears up the paper. If caged with another animal that watches her drawing, she shoulders the other aside or turns away to work in a corner. The motivation is intense. She will disregard food when she sees someone with pencil and paper and will beg for these. (Schiller 1951, 110-1)