SeaWorld just announced that they'll resume killer whale shows this Saturday and that Tillikum will not be subjected to punishment in any form. It's agonizing to even think about a humongous whale in an amusement park, though I understand that there may be good reasons for scientists to study such animals up close and to disseminate their findings. (I've been to SeaWorld—to me, the crowd was more frightening than the creatures and the whales reminded me of Kong in Manhattan.) This is not to bash zoos, because clearly there are lots of "free" animals being pushed around the planet by the mighty forces of progress. Allison Hunter, a Houston artist who works in various mediums, often focuses intensely on animals, deleting their surroundings so you see them more clearly. Her recent works are sublime.

Untitled 23, 2008–2009.

Hunter's site-specific exhibition, Zoosphere, will open in March at DiverseWorks in Houston. She describes it thus:

Zoosphere is a multi-channel audio-visual installation where zoo animals are virtually relocated in a different kind of captivity: the gallery space. The exhibition is lit only by video projections depicting life-size zoo animals freed from their habitats through digital manipulation. Unlike at a real zoo, there is no map or guide or predictable enclosure. Rather than viewers coming upon enclosed animals where they may be predictably found, the animals come upon the viewer unexpectedly, appearing and disappearing randomly throughout the installation space. 

Video still from Zoosphere (meerkat).