te magazine N°4: Spinal Memory

Starting from the spine, the very pillar of life, Issue 4 of te magazine focuses on nonhuman animals to explore the manipulation of their bodies alongside themes of perception and empathy. Drawing on years of cohabitation or sustained research, the contributors in this issue employ observation, education, painting, writing, and imagery to challenge entrenched “ethical frameworks” and “orders.”Is it possible to envision a relatively equal multispecies world? Can we relearn how to coexist with “the other” through a more humble and introspective lens? Issue 4 Spinal Memory does not offer answers; instead, it comprises reflections and imaginations, as most contributors have long-standing experiences with or ongoing research on non-human animals. Through observation, education, painting, writing, and image-making, they seek to loosen the existing “ethical relationships” and “orderly rules.” Returning to the interior of the body, each vertebra of the spine accumulates traces of human transitions and memories that have yet to dissipate. However, the spine has never fully completed its evolution; its flaws are evident, and the hidden pain it causes always accompanies the body. Perhaps it is this persistent pain that continually reminds us that suffering, which may seem unrelated to us, can be perceived anew from the fissure of spines. By stepping into the bodies of Others, to feel and acknowledge them, a slow exchange occurs that reopens our imagination and generates a relationship that has yet to be named.