Friday 19 October 2007

Starving a dog to death for "Art"

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A Costa Rican "artist" has captured a street dog then tied it up and allowed it to starve to death in the name of art. The full story can be found here.

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For a while now "conceptual" art has been the big thing in the art world. The trouble is most of the "concepts" on show are banal in the extreme, so artist move towards shock as a way to provoke a reaction. I am sure that the art intelligentsia are already moving to defend this "work" as provocative, ground-breaking or some other load of old tosh. It seems to be in their interests to push the idea that it's really just that detractors don't understand the art and if you were as clever and educated as they are you would understand and appreciate it. This smacks of the Emperors New Clothes to me.

On his blog the Artist/Animal-abuser points out that the dog was sick and would have died sooner or later anyway. Well wouldn't we all! It's the bit between birth and death that makes the difference. We all have the capacity to act as devils or angels and it's the choices we make that are important. But of course offering comfort, medical care and food to a dying animal wouldn't have given him the column inches he craves.

Apparently the abuser asked that people did not feed the dog or give it water and the visitors to his exhibition complied. Their appreciation of "art" apparently out-weighed any humanity they had. This art diminishes the humanity of all those who come into contact with it - how can that be of benefit to anyone?

The apologists will make claims that we shouldn't interfere with the artists vision...what complete b*****ks. If the artists vision had been to nail poor/sick children to the wall of his gallery - would we allow that? after all they were going to die any way.

The final thing you hear trotted out is that the important thing is that the art "provoked a reaction". Well whoopy-dee, provoking a reaction is easy - if you don't believe me next time you are in work, take a dump on your boss's desk!

As far as I am concerned there is no justification for this sort of abuse as art and I sincerely hope that Guillermo Vargas starves to death sometime soon.
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I have not linked directly to Guillermo Varga as hell would freeze over before I help someone like that improve their pagerank.
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