About

The ten artists explore how certain lives—human and nonhuman—are designated as alien, and the possibilities of forging relationships across the yawning chasm of self and other.

Othering is alterity in the active voice—the often violent process of designating a body as alien, which frequently precedes and accompanies social exclusion. But it is also the necessary precondition for any politics, good or bad. The possibility of hospitality is predicated on the unexpected arrival of a stranger; only be deciding to rename them as my guest can I assume the identity of a welcoming host. Ethics emerge …