Art or Murder?

[j_absinthe]

http://www.care2.com/c2c/groups/disc...ival=&posts=10

Quote:

A Costa Rican artist found himself in hot water with the animal protection people in his home country after using a starving, sick street dog as part of an exposition in Managua, Nicaragua, in August. Guillermo “Habacuc” Vargas allegedly found the dog tied up on a street corner in a poor Nicaragua barrio and brought it to the showing. He tied the dog, according to furious animal lovers, in a corner of the salon where it died after a day. Habacuc’s exhibition included a legend spelled out in dog food reading “You are what you read,” photos and an incense burner that burned an ounce of marijauna and 175 “rock’ of crack cocaine. In the background, according to reports, the Sandista national anthem played backwards. According to the artist, his “art” was a tribute to Natividad Canda, a Nicaraguan burglar killed in Costa Rica by two rottweilers guarding property he had entered at night. The incident caused friction between the two countries. Habacuc told the daily La Nacion, “I won’t say the dog died. The importance to me is the hypocracy of the people where an animal is the focus of attention where people come to see art but not when it’s in the street starving to death.” “The same thing happened with poor Natividad Canda. The people sympathized with him only after he was dead,” the artist added. The artist apparently is unaware that at least three large, active organizations are dedicated in Costa Rica to the protection of animals and that several persons have been prosecuted for cruelty to animals. They are hampered in their efforts by the old Hispanic customs of disregard for animal welfare and by a lack of funding.

 

[xsnowwhite]

well i dont consider this art at all but thats just me.
thats sad!

 

[MACATTAK]

Not cool.

 

[eastsidesunset]

Quote:

They are hampered in their efforts by the old Hispanic customs of disregard for animal welfare and by a lack of funding.

While I'm all for animal rights, come on now. An old Hispanic custom of disregard for animal welfare? I'm Hispanic, and I guess I didn't get the memo. Since it's custom, I suppose I should start having disregard for my animal's welfare.

 

[almmaaa]

Thats murder stupid bastard m@!@#$$%f$#$%#$

 

[cami101]

Murder means one human being killing each another unlawfully. This isn't murder, or art, but a crime nonetheless. I hope this moves Nicaragua to enact tougher laws, if needed for this sort of thing.

How could someone walk by that in a gallery without doing something?

 

[NutMeg]

I agree that this isn't murder, because that is one human killing another. That being said, what happened was wrong. You can't just grab a sick animal, use it to promote yourself, and then say that the people who are mad at you for letting it die are bad people because they didn't care before. Sorry, if you have a deathly ill animal in your care, make sure it gets the medical attention it needs. Don't use it to promote your art.

 

[flowerhead]

Well, haha I don't regard anything that hasn't had talent put into it as art. He has no right to call it art, it's just trite...and extremely cruel and tacky

 

[Hilly]

fucked up

 

[Beauty Mark]

I don't get the point of this "art" and I hope someone reams this man a new one. I also don't understand feeling bad for the burglar. It sucks he died, but that's the risk you take for stealing. It's not like he was some poor unfortunate soul who was walking by a house and got attacked.

 

[~Valerie~]

Even though it can't be defined as "murder", is it any less gruesome that he took a life - regardless of what kind of life it was?

Just a thought.

 

[dollbabybex]

how about i starve the 'artist' and tie him up and call that 'art'

 

[frocher]

This guy is one sick mofo.

 

[MxAxC-_ATTACK]

nasty. this is extremely distasteful , most definitely NOT art !

This guy is no better than Andy Warhol, who after his friend committed suicide, he said "I wish he would have told me so that I could have filmed it"

 

[susannef]

This is very sad. It feels like many of these so called "artist" would do anything for publicity.

 

[susannef]

This is very sad. It feels like many of these so called "artists" would do anything for publicity.

 

[Ms.Amaranthine]

Ever since I heard about this a day or two ago, I've been having all my friends online and in real life sign the petition. I've always been against animal cruelty of any sort, including scientific/laboratory vivisection. I was so saddened to read about this and was astonished by the lack of regard, complete indifference really, that this dog was met with. How could people just walk by a starving animal and not help? A testament to the times, I think. People are becoming so desensitized and indifferent.

And when it comes to art, since when was anything like this "art"? What happened to being a true artist and painting? Sculpting? Jesus. Why does it have to include murdering a helpless animal? I've always thought art and things of the like were an outlet for thoughts and emotions, things mere words could not express.. is this the kind of thing he has going on in his head? What a sick, sad man.

 

[glamdoll]

I think it is messed up that he used an animal like that. But I do see his point. Where were all these animal activist or lovers when the dog was starving on the streets? Why didnt anyone care for him then?
Suddenly, because he has been put on a display,its important?

I totally see his point. People only care after something or someone dies. Had that dog died (which it would have anyway) on the street, w/o anyone paying attention to him, no one would have cared. It would have been some random starving dying dog. But since he was put on display "oh no the cruelty" very hypocritical.

I dont think its just for the burglar, its for everything and everyone. No one cares until you are dead, or have suffered a great tragedy.

 

[flowerhead]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MxAxC-_ATTACK nasty. this is extremely distasteful , most definitely NOT art ! This guy is no better than Andy Warhol, who after his friend committed suicide, he said "I wish he would have told me so that I could have filmed it"

He actually told Edie that if she was going to commit suicide that he'd like to film it....warped sense of humour. And she died of an overdose

 

[SparklingWaves]

Let me tell you about one of my dogs. I was out of State and I heard crying under the house. I thought it was kittens, but the crying didn't stop. I saw a friendly female dog approach me. She rolled on her back and I noticed that her breasts looked odd - like deflated. I thought this had to be someone's dog. She was extremely furry. It was horribly hot outside and I noticed she didn't get out of the street like a dog usually would.

I had to investigate the crying. I found 7 new born pups. Their eyes weren't even open. They kept crying. I said something is really wrong here. The children next door said the furry dog was the mother. I asked, "Why isn't she under there with her babies?" The kids said the mother is sad. Sad? I coaxed the mother dog over to me and she refused to feed her pups. I felt of her and she was a walking skeleton. I realized the mother was out of milk.

I went to store in town and gave her food and she went under the house with her babies. No one claimed this dog. She looked like she was going to drop dead in her tracks.

I picked up the 7 pups and her. I put them in my car. Mind you, I was over 200 miles from home and already had a dog and four cats. I felt like I was out of my mind. I went to shelter to shelter. No one would take her and her babies. They told me that the dog looked to bad off and they would just put her to sleep and the babies. I couldn't do that. I drove her to my house over 200 miles.

Long story short - she made it and feed all of her babies. All of her babies got homes. One lady, flew in to Lousiana from Canada to get one of her babies. I had her treated for advanced heartworms. They didn't think she would make it, but she did.

She is the most loving dog. I can take her anywhere. She is great with my cats. My deaf cat sleeps on her tail.

I could have done what others did and just walk on by, but I couldn't. She was a mom in my eyes that needed help. She is a walking miracle.

That dog in this story was exploited. He could have drawn or painted a picture to get his point across, but he didn't. He wasn't creative enough to do that. He used a living creature's suffering for his own gain.