Why Multimodality?
by Flori Tulli

Wolf… a word that carries a lot of weight, especially in the state of Idaho. Opinions range from a supportive yearning for wilderness to a fervent desire to secure safe, usable land. While both proponents and opponents of wolves hold valid concerns about reintroduction, their conflicting discourses have turned the wolf into a controversial, polarizing figure. How did it come to this? How do we navigate the current discourses surrounding wolves? And how do wolves, in turn, navigate the landscape shaped by our discourses? My hope is that this project can act as a catalyst for conversation, one that allows viewers to see the various dimensions surrounding the topic of wolf reintroduction in Idaho.

So why create a multimodal project? First and foremost, multimodality is the combination of visual, aural, written and kinesthetic modes of communication, used together to effectively explore and explain ideas. In the case of ecological art, this powerful combination can help to educate people about complex environmental issues.

We perceive the world through many simultaneous senses, which multimodality helps us express and explore. In the case of multimodality, Alex Weik von Mossner reflects upon the effectiveness of film: “The multimodal relationships between people, objects, landscapes, and our embodied brains are particularly complex in the case of film, which not only provides narrative (like literature) or visual information (like a painting) but also sound and, most importantly, motion” (53). For an excellent example of film’s effective multimodality, I have included the animation “Wolves and Trophic Cascades” (2023), made by Kieran Hughes.

Rather than explain trophic cascade through a lengthy research paper, Hughes has schematized the relationship of wolves to their ecosystems in a simple yet striking visualization, translating a complex scientific topic to wider audiences. Similar to the multiple modes used in movies and animations, a multimodal project–and ecological art for that matter–should also provide numerous channels for understanding and connecting information.

With these objectives in mind, I wanted to create a multimodal project that people will see outside of an academic sphere. Rather than pushing viewers further into their current points of view, I aim to foster more conversation, investigation and overall understanding of wolf reintroduction in Idaho.