Shadows of the Holocene: transformed creatures and the dystopian animals of the future | Linda Williams

Summary: Changing the Climate: Utopia, Dystopia and Catastrophe | Linda Williams ‘Shadows of the Holocene: transformed creatures and the dystopian animals of the future’ After identifying some of the deep contradictions evident in contemporary views of animals, this paper considers how the dystopian futures of human-animal relations are imagined in recent film, literature and art. The paper considers the view that the Holocene era, unlike any other in the earth’s history, is host to many creatures who exist as shadows of their earlier evolutionary history. Moreover, in many dystopian cultural figurations, these shadows grow darker still. Linda Williams is an Associate Professor in Art History at RMIT University, and curator ofThe Idea of the Animal exhibition (2004) and the HEAT: Art and Climate Change exhibition (2008).