Podmiotowość zwierząt w sztuce

This article aims to give a theoretical overview of the problem of animal subjectivity in visual arts. The author presents the ways of understanding the concept of the animal subject in philosophy, animal psychology, ethology and law, pointing out its special character in the field of art. The text includes a succinct description of changes in the depiction of animals in the course of art history, explaining the connections between the subjectification and objectification of animals in art versus the real human-animal relations. The second half of the 20th century is recognized as the time when animal subjectivity in art changed the most dramatically, as artists began using real animals as participants in their art and their dead body parts as materials. Looking into both the art with animal imagery and the one that uses real animals, the author notices connections between symbolism and instrumentalization which take animals away from becoming subjects. Using the zoocentric research perspective of Éric Baratay, Łagodzka analyzes animal subjectification and objectification in the process of art perception.