Re: [New-Poetry] POL: Prevent the âArtisticâ Death of Another Innocent Animal

Steve Moore s.allen.moore at mac.com
Thu May 8 18:57:55 EDT 2008 

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
> To: NewPoetry: Contemporary Poetry News &amp,Views
> 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> 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 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,”  
> 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.”
> >
> > ~~~~
> >
> > 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
> >
> >
> >  
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> -- 
> 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
>
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> _______
>
>
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