Dylan Kerr, Tools for Thought: Artifacts from the History of Comparative Psychology

May 28, 2022 16:00 GMT/ 11:00 EDT/ 08:00 PST

Dylan Kerr, Tools for Thought: Artifacts from the History of Comparative Psychology concerns the history of comparative psychology and its relationship to the history of art, tracing the development of animal-behavior science over the past century.

Dylan Kerr is a writer, editor, and researcher based in Brooklyn, New York. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Media Studies from Vassar College and a master’s degree in Animal Behavior and Conservation from Hunter College. Dylan has worked as an art reporter and editor for Artspace magazine and other publications and currently works as a copy editor for the New Yorker magazine. He’s written about animal-translation technology, the history of live animals in modern and contemporary art, vegan art supplies, artists’ use of object-oriented ontology, and the evolutionary basis of art-making and appreciation, in addition to conducting many interviews with artists, scientists, curators, and more. His current research focuses on the history of comparative psychology and its relationship to the history of art. This presentation is based on his master’s thesis project, advised by Diana Reiss and Joshua Plotnik.