Idea by
Hermione Spriggs
Hermione Spriggs
Call for ideas 2016
What is it like to be a trap?
What is it like to be a trap?
![](/media/cache/50/9d/509d07acf773ab57a6430108bdf61e1f.jpg)
THE TRAP
As a device to catch prey, a snare is useless in isolation. The trap reconfigures its own context to suit a desired outcome. However, the surrounding environment is only one factor among many constituting a trap, embodied in both its material form and local situation. Anthropologist Alfred Gell describes the trap as a container for human agency and a nexus of interspecies relationships, an “evocation of complex intentionalities” that shifts from the symbolic to the operational: a “representation that functions as a prosthesis”.
As a processual assemblage, the trap ought be further explored as a model for discovering trans-species contact and, more generally, for developing empathy with the other, especially beyond the familiar context of predator-prey. The trap allows for multiple natures of intelligence to function alongside each other and exemplifies the temporary fusion of human and non-human to accomplish collective action.
![](/media/cache/66/7b/667b7ef4b71c7602cf63e7eef498581a.jpg)
Cage trap (London), illustration Hermione Spriggs
![](/media/cache/26/57/2657fae6516d0a03866d6ecf9a2417ed.jpg)
Garden Trapset (London), illustration Hermione Spriggs
![](/media/cache/9b/94/9b94bc32bb21bf403f40e1b0609e4899.jpg)
Snare Trapset (Northumberland), illustration Hermione Spriggs
![](/media/cache/12/c5/12c51bcb26fa9db53cf12049a3a8788c.jpg)
Snare (Camouflaged), illustration Hermione Spriggs
![](/media/cache/ce/b2/ceb216de5b06bec24387e77a039817f7.jpg)
Trap Trapper Trapp't, illustration Hermione Spriggs
What is it like to be a trap?
What is it like to be a trap?
![](/media/cache/50/9d/509d07acf773ab57a6430108bdf61e1f.jpg)
THE TRAP
As a device to catch prey, a snare is useless in isolation. The trap reconfigures its own context to suit a desired outcome. However, the surrounding environment is only one factor among many constituting a trap, embodied in both its material form and local situation. Anthropologist Alfred Gell describes the trap as a container for human agency and a nexus of interspecies relationships, an “evocation of complex intentionalities” that shifts from the symbolic to the operational: a “representation that functions as a prosthesis”.
As a processual assemblage, the trap ought be further explored as a model for discovering trans-species contact and, more generally, for developing empathy with the other, especially beyond the familiar context of predator-prey. The trap allows for multiple natures of intelligence to function alongside each other and exemplifies the temporary fusion of human and non-human to accomplish collective action.
![](/media/cache/0d/a9/0da9cbfd9cc6580d33cacc55dbe2d124.jpg)
Cage trap (London), illustration Hermione Spriggs
![](/media/cache/f2/fc/f2fc6c387a5ddbebd4c5defa127655ef.jpg)
Garden Trapset (London), illustration Hermione Spriggs
![](/media/cache/3f/57/3f579eb8d760f1755a55c77c1236f0cf.jpg)
Snare Trapset (Northumberland), illustration Hermione Spriggs
![](/media/cache/91/0d/910d8d67f30e1f1516405a75076630d4.jpg)
Snare (Camouflaged), illustration Hermione Spriggs
![](/media/cache/b6/b8/b6b8c8f79a439d76450f08907c6dbf0c.jpg)
Trap Trapper Trapp't, illustration Hermione Spriggs