The Massing Lab

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Howard Altmann: Three Poems by Gayil Nalls

John Ashbery has called Howard Altmann's poetry “…essential as a glass of water.” This is evident even in his answers for a recent interview conducted for The Massing Lab in which "'collective behavior', a term that might mean different things to different people", is obliquely touched upon in three poems published here.

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Tobias Stretch: Biochemical Realism by Gayil Nalls

In this interview for The Massing Lab, film director and animator, Toby Stretch, who creates bizarre and dreamlike characters for his visually striking stop motion films talks about the "internal/external, macro/micro, living/inert, individual/collective" aesthetics of his work. 

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Toy Lego characters depicting protesters confronting riot police are seen on a table outside the government headquarters in Hong Kong. Oct20 2014 Tyrone Siu/Reuters

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Police officers are reflected on reflective materials held by a pro-democracy protesters on a blocked road at Mongkok shopping district in Hong Kong. Oct19 2014 Tyrone Siu/Reuters

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A group of men wearing face masks tried to pick fights with protesters and remove barricades in Hong Kong’s business district as pro-democracy demonstrations entered their third week. The group provoked scuffles with protesters, while about 100 older people also joined in to shout ‘Occupy Central is illegal.’ Oct13 2014 AFP/EPA/Reuters/Getty

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Kashmiri Muslim protesters throw stones at Indian paramilitary soldiers during a protest demanding rehabilitation of affected people in flooded areas, in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir. Oct15 2014 Farooq Khan/EPA

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A Kurdish refugee from the Syrian town of Kobani shows victory sign as a rainbow forms over the camp in the southeastern town of Suruc, Sanliurfa province. Oct16 2014 Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters

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A pro-democracy protester is arrested by riot polices after police moved in the occupied area by the protesters in the Mong Kok district of Hong Kong. Riot police moved in on a Hong Kong pro-democracy protest zone in a dawn raid on Friday, taking down barricades, tents and canopies that have blocked key streets for more than two weeks. Oct17 2014 AP

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Woof If You Support Climate Justice

by Gayil Nalls, PhD  

"Three Maltese Attend the People’s Climate March, New York, September 21, 2014." Photo by Angela Juarez, Multimedia Director at The Massing Lab

Why were there so many canines at the People’s Climate March in New York City September 21, 2014?  To understand the answer to this you need not go further than YouTube. There you’ll find millions of hilarious, touching and illuminating videos humans post of animals–often their dogs. The videos not only speak in broad volumes about the love people have for domestic animals, as a collection, the videos deliver vivid and unexpected insight into the interrelationship of animals and humans, improving our understanding of the behavior of both. Most American dog owners not only see their pets as family members and fight for their legal rights, but have long known what recent MRI scans of dog’s brains show: that dogs know how we feel and are as smart as our young children.

Scientific evidence is revealing that many animal species have high levels of cognition, problem-solving abilities, communication powers, and other amazing gifts. However, most of them cannot attend events that demand global solutions, so dogs and humans are there to march for their future, to protest and hold accountable those entities that contribute to what is unfolding as “the planet’s sixth great extinction.” 

Scientists at the World Wildlife Fund and Zoological Society of London say “human-caused pollution, devastation of habitats and other events related to climate change have combined to cut wildlife populations by 52 percent since 1970.” GlobalIssues.com says “over a million species will be lost in the coming 50 years” to climate change alone.

Any change in climate of an area affects the animals living there. As people come under increasing threat from climate change, so do the animals that are part of our families. 

Human fate is not different than that of other beings. Global climate change affects all life.

We are just now beginning to understand the powerful neurobiological basis for humans with their non-human companions. Read more here. 

Photo by Angela Juarez, Multimedia Director at The Massing Lab

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Pro-democracy protesters attend a rally in the occupied areas outside government headquarters in Hong Kong’s Admiralty. Hundreds of thousands of people are pouring into a main road in Hong Kong to show support for a pro-democracy protest after the government called off talks with student leaders. Oct10 2014 Kin Cheung/AP