Extra-Credit Blog_Chi-ming Yang “Trial thing: Dogs, Porcelain and Chinese Export Art”

Yang’s lecture was very interesting and definitely related to topics we have covered this semester. She analyzed the role of dogs throughout history, especially in art. Dogs where a status symbol and where breed to achieve specific traits. This is very similar to our first discussions about the apple in The Botany of Desire. The apple was grafted to create a sweet apple for eating.

The dogs were importing and breed for desirable shapes and sizes, particularly the toy dog. It is very interesting how humans have manipulated nature for their own preferred aesthetics. The animals were more like object rather than individual beings with their own teleology. Dogs were painted in painting and sculptures where created so people could immortalize this symbol. It seems they are trying to prolong the life of the dog through breeding and through art.

In class we mostly focused on plants rather than animals, but most of the same concepts of dominating and changing plants applies to animals, particularly dogs. Dogs were domesticated for human’s pleasure, similarly to the grand garden of Versailles as a status symbol. The garden was created in a certain way to be the best garden, just like the goal of breeding of dogs. We still continue this process today. Maybe we need to be more accepting of nature and quit changing everything that does not please us. Nature does have its own goal and I’m starting to realize how we really don’t let that happen. Something as simple as dog breeding doesn’t phase me because it’s so common, but if we stop and think, this could be very wrong. Nature should be left to its own means. After all, nature can be very beautiful and we should accept this beauty.