Tele (greek "far off")Pets

Tele-Pets is a research natured Art project. At this point it consists of a video, a webpage, a live event, research material and documentation in form of photographs, video footage and written reports.

It started in Gothenburg Sweden during spring 2006. The video "Tele-Pets" has been shown at Threshold Art Space in Perth Scotland,at Gallery MeinBlau in Berlin, Director Lounge Berlin 2007 and as part of Slippery terrain at Eastern Edge Gallery St Johns NFL Canada 2009. My aim is to continue and develope the project further as the field of work is quite large.

One of the main topics is telepathy between animals and people.

There is quite much research about this, i.e biologist & scientist Rupert Sheldrake has a lot of theories that try to explain telepathy and to prove that there is a something called the morphic field, similar to the sixth sense. 

Read more about Sheldrakes work on www.sheldrake.org

Animal communicators (people who can talk to animals) use telepathy when they communicate with their clients.

Emelie Cajsdotter is a Swedish animal communicator and therapist. She published the book "Zander and time - conversations with animals" in 2000. Many of the conversations she describes are extremelly fascinating ...She says that animals are like us, some of them have a lot to say while some don't.

So, out there , there are a lot of animals who have opinions about matters, just as I have.

Read more about Emelie on the project website www.ninalassila.com/telepets.htm

The Tele-Pets project collects and publishes stories about special experiences and relationships. You're welcomed to share your stories and thoughts!

The politically independent organization P.F.P was been formed within the project. 

P.F.P (pets for peace) stands for equal rights and respect for all living creatures.

The writer Peter Singer compares racists to "speciesists":

Racists violate the principle of equality by giving greater weight to the interests of members of their own race when there is a clash between their interests and the interests of those of another race. White racists do not accept that pain is as bad when it is felt by blacks as when it is felt by whites. Similarly those I would call 'speciesists' give greater weight to the interests of members of their own species when there is a clash between their interests and the interests of those of other species. Human speciesists do not accept that pain is as bad when it is felt by pigs or mice as when it is felt by humans.

P.F.P also works with raising important issues through for example events, videowork, radioprogrammes etc.

METHODS

The entire work is research based. The nature and form is that of a documentary research mixed with personal and more private elements.

And the process, concluding all small chats, every little story received etc is important - much more than the outcome, the physical work. it's important too, but more as a "happy ending" . I think the story behind a process like this is valuable, and it being personal just makes it more "human", at least to me...I also think the art somehow lies in the "situation" the meeting between the passerby and artist which is created by me as an artist.

During the process of this work I have discussed these topics with a lot of people - I don't have documentation of every occassion. And I don't think I need either. This work will go on, hopefully even without me... 

As an artist I don't have answers. i don't hand out answers. I pose questions. I ask the questions - and hope in turn that others will ask the same questions...

ABOUT THE VIDEO 

I have tried to achieve a documentary style in the video, a personal investigation: a way to research the phenomenon of telepathy between animals and humans and the question wheter animals can have deeper and similar thoughts to i.e myself. I find stories from friends, books etc. Some of these stories are used in the video, but all of them end up on the website

I make posters that I leave in petshops and other places - posters requesting for more stories and examples of experience from people who have special relationships with their pets.

The stories I receive are all quite different - and the stuff I read about animal thoughts are also quite different from each other. so somehow that creates the conclusion that animals are similar to us. some of them have more thoughts and opinions than others.