Coutts presented a paper on animals that mimic and why they copy, if as Roger Caillois suggests, it is not always to the animal’s advantage to look like another species, plant or mineral. Caillois introduced the idea that a copy does not need to involve human or animal agency. A rock for example, such as an agate, can appear to contain figurative elements that were made by no hand, but instead evolved over time due to a compression of minerals. Human ‘recognition’ of pictorial qualities made in the absence of intent, challenge our basis for knowledge.
Coutts presented a range of her own, and works by other artists, and referenced research by scientists in the same area to challenge anew why mimicry is practiced across species. Coutts’ film ‘All Rise’ was screened and discussed as part of the presentation.