[New-Poetry] POL: Prevent the âArtisticâ Death of Another Innocent Animal
TheOldMole
Opus40-01 at opus40.org
Thu May 8 19:41:42 EDT 2008
It's not all right, whether he really did it and is now claiming he
didn't because of the negative publicity, or whether he only claimed to
have done it. The original story is -- one would hope -- too ghastly to
be true, but we know nothing is too ghastly to be true. The second story
-- we only pretended to starve the dog, but actually we cared for it and
fed it (just enough to have it look perpetually starving?) is frankly
really unlikely. And Habacuc's original weasel story -- the dog would
have died anyway -- makes the "secretly cared for" story seem even more
weaselly and unlikely. I really just can't buy it.
This has been done before, really for real -- here's a link.
http://mcbrooklyn.blogspot.com/2008/04/tom-otterness-apologizes-for-shooting.html
The Yale MFA case -- the young woman who claims to have impregnated
herself and induced abortion over and over -- is having a similar does
she or doesn't she? followup. Yale says she really didn't, it was just
a story made up to dramatize the plight of something or other. She says
she really did. Maybe only her hairdresser knows for sure?
Is any of this art? That's a pointless question, a dumb question, the
wrong question. It's art if its perpetrator says it is. That's basically
what makes something art -- you present it to the world as something
that exists in the current of life, is in some way of the current of
life, and yet is apart from it, commenting on it. Any meaningful
definition of art is value neutral.
So it's not enough to say that something is art. It can be art and still
be morally repugnant, a crime against humanity.And when these atrocities
are committed -- even when someone only pretends to commit them, as may
or may not be the case here -- artists should be the first to stand and
denounce it.
Steve Moore wrote:
> I encountered this some weeks back. After researching into it quite
> extensively, this is what I discovered. The artist and the gallery
> owner secretly fed and cared for the dog, which was a stray they
> found, at night. The dog was actually well treated, other than having
> to sit around a gallery all day (which would bore me to death).
> Eventually, they released the dog, but claimed it had died. The whole
> point of the exhibit was to show how passive and emotionless art
> world consumers are. how art doesn't impact them on a visceral level,
> it's just an elitist exercise. I think he proved his point, but then
> got more than he bargained for when the story showed up on the internets.
>
> -Steven Allen Moore
>
> On May 8, 2008, at 11:59 AM, Anny Ballardini wrote:
>
>> If it's an hoax, which I hope, it is very easy to cut out and paste
>> any image above another one (even I can do it). My students spoke of
>> it some months ago.
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> *From:* amy king <mailto:amyhappens at yahoo.com>
>> *To:* NewPoetry: Contemporary Poetry News &,Views
>> <mailto:new-poetry at wiz.cath.vt.edu>
>> *Sent:* Thursday, May 08, 2008 9:45 PM
>> *Subject:* Re: [New-Poetry] POL: Prevent the âArtisticâ Death of
>> Another Innocent Animal
>>
>> Thanks, Tad! I tried to check out the validity and found that it
>> is in some dispute as the artist has made several contrary
>> statements since his initial claim of letting the dog starve to
>> death "for art" -- I figured regardless of the final truth, it's
>> a terrible spectacle and abusive. We wouldn't let a malnourished
>> child sit in a gallery for hours on end; why should an
>> domesticated animal be treated that way? Also disturbing is the
>> lack of "patron" reaction. I don't know why someone didn't
>> untie the dog and attempt to walk him out of the gallery with
>> him. Maybe this is the kind of discussion his "art" is supposed
>> to inspire along with drawing attention to the homeless dog
>> situation, but ultimately and regardless of his aim, the
>> installation is abhorrent and there are far more effective ways
>> to address the homeless dog problem -- if he really cared to do so.
>>
>> Best,
>> Amy
>>
>> */TheOldMole <Opus40-01 at opus40.org
>> <mailto:Opus40-01 at opus40.org>>/* wrote:
>>
>> I signed...trusting Amy that it's on the up and up. I googled
>> the guy,
>> and at least the story is true. And horrifying.
>>
>> shin02143 at aol.com <mailto:shin02143 at aol.com> wrote:
>> > That is utterly cruel sadistic behavior. It is not art, it
>> is murder.
>> >
>> > Richard
>> >
>> >
>> > -----Original Message-----
>> > From: amy king
>> > Sent: Thu, 8 May 2008 1:34 pm
>> > Subject: [New-Poetry] POL: Prevent the “Artistic†Death
>> of Another
>> > Innocent Animal
>> >
>> > *THE STORY:*
>> > *
>> > *
>> > In 2007, the ‘artist’ Guillermo Vargas Habacuc, took a
>> dog from the
>> > street, tied him to a rope in an art gallery and began
>> starving him to
>> > death.
>> > For several days, the ‘artist’ and the visitors of the
>> exhibition
>> > watched, emotionless, the shameful ‘masterpiece’ based
>> on the dog’s
>> > agony, until eventually he died.
>> >
>> > Does THIS sound like art to you?
>> >
>> > But this is not all… the prestigious Visual Arts Biennial
>> of Central
>> > America decided that the ‘installation’ WAS actually
>> art, so Guillermo
>> > Vargas Habacuc has been invited to repeat his cruel action
>> for the
>> > Biennial of 2008.
>> >
>> > *Let’s STOP HIM!!!!! *Sign the petition:
>> > http://www.petitiononline.com/ea6gk/petition.html
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > Here is another petition that is 2 million signatures
>> strong. Please
>> > feel free to sign it as well:
>> > http://www.petitiononline.com/13031953/petition.html
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > Please do it. It’s free of charge, there is no need to
>> register, and
>> > it will only take 1 minute to save the life of an innocent
>> creature.
>> >
>> > AND, for those of you saying “This is all a hoax, etc,â€
>> here is a
>> > direct quote FROM THE ‘ARTIST’ himself!:
>> > “I knew the dog died on the following day from lack of
>> food. During
>> > the inauguration, I knew that the dog was persecuted in the
>> evening
>> > between the houses of aluminum and cardboard in a district
>> of Managua.
>> > 5 children who helped to capture the dog received 10 bonds
>> of córdobas
>> > for their assistance. The name of the dog was Natividad, and
>> I let him
>> > die of hunger in the sight of everyone, as if the death of a
>> poor dog
>> > was a shameless media show in which nobody does anything but to
>> > applaud or to watch disturbed. In the place that the dog was
>> exposed
>> > remain a metal cable and a cord. The dog was extremely ill
>> and did not
>> > want to eat, so in natural surroundings it would have died
>> anyway;
>> > thus they are all poor stray dogs: sooner or later they die
>> or are
>> > killed.â€
>> >
>> > ~~~~
>> >
>> > To be fair (with lots of comments from Costa Ricans):
>> >
>> > In his defence, the artist has claimed that what he was
>> attempting to
>> > prove was that those who saw the suffering of the dog just
>> walked on
>> > by and that if it had been left on the street to die, no-one
>> would
>> > have even known of its existence.
>> >
>> > It has also been reported that the dog did not die but
>> escaped, and
>> > that it had been fed by Vargas and was only tied up during
>> the gallery
>> > opening times. It has not been possible to confirm this.
>> >
>> > The Managua exhibition attracted worldwide attention and
>> many people
>> > believe it to have been an act of cruelty rather than art. A
>> petition
>> > has been started in an attempt to prevent Habacuc’s
>> involvement in the
>> > 2008 Biennial and from repeating the spectacle.
>> >
>> > If you would like to sign the petition, visit:
>> > http://www.petitiononline.com/ea6gk/petition.html
>> > –from * Artist Guillermo Vargas - Habacuc
>> > *
>> >
>> > _______
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > http://www.amyking.org
>> >
>> >
>> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> > Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo!
>> Mobile. Try
>> > it now.
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> >
>> > New-Poetry mailing list
>> >
>> > New-Poetry at wiz.cath.vt.edu <mailto:New-Poetry at wiz.cath.vt.edu>
>> >
>> > http://wiz.cath.vt.edu/mailman/listinfo/new-poetry
>> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> > Plan your next roadtrip with MapQuest.com
>> > : America's #1
>> > Mapping Site.
>> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > New-Poetry mailing list
>> > New-Poetry at wiz.cath.vt.edu <mailto:New-Poetry at wiz.cath.vt.edu>
>> > http://wiz.cath.vt.edu/mailman/listinfo/new-poetry
>> >
>>
>> --
>> Tad Richards
>> http://www.opus40.org/tadrichards/
>> http://opusforty.blogspot.com/
>>
>> The moral is this: in American verse,
>> The better you are, the pay is worse.
>> --Corey Ford
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> New-Poetry mailing list
>> New-Poetry at wiz.cath.vt.edu <mailto:New-Poetry at wiz.cath.vt.edu>
>> http://wiz.cath.vt.edu/mailman/listinfo/new-poetry
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> _______
>>
>>
>> http://www.amyking.org
>> http://demonoide.org
>> http://redherring.us
>> http://poetryexperiment.com
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo!
>> Mobile. Try it now.
>> <http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=51733/*http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ%20>
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> New-Poetry mailing list
>> New-Poetry at wiz.cath.vt.edu <mailto:New-Poetry at wiz.cath.vt.edu>
>> http://wiz.cath.vt.edu/mailman/listinfo/new-poetry
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> No virus found in this incoming message.
>> Checked by AVG.
>> Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 269.23.10/1421 - Release Date:
>> 5/7/2008 5:23 PM
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> New-Poetry mailing list
>> New-Poetry at wiz.cath.vt.edu <mailto:New-Poetry at wiz.cath.vt.edu>
>> http://wiz.cath.vt.edu/mailman/listinfo/new-poetry
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> New-Poetry mailing list
> New-Poetry at wiz.cath.vt.edu
> http://wiz.cath.vt.edu/mailman/listinfo/new-poetry
>
--
Tad Richards
http://www.opus40.org/tadrichards/
http://opusforty.blogspot.com/
The moral is this: in American verse,
The better you are, the pay is worse.
--Corey Ford
More information about the New-Poetry
mailing list