Stop this Artistic Murder! Petition!

[Hilly]

Copied from Facebook

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:
Boicot a la presencia de Guillermo Habacuc Vargas en la Bienal Centroamericana Honduras 2008 Petition

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.

Please also invite as many friends to this group as you can... We need to join forces to stop a murderer

If you want to double check all the above information you can google the name of the 'artist' to read all about this terrible 'masterpiece'.


**News articles regarding this issue:
“Artist” Leaves Dog To Die on Exhibition Display - Killing Animals as Form of Contemporary High Art - Softpedia
Lifestyles of the Chic & Vegan: Starved Dog As Art Update
Artist Guillermo Vargas - Habacuc - Euro Weekly News

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."

 

[Dahlia_Rayn]

I have already signed this petition. It was totally senseless and cruel and it makes me so angry. People are supposed to be civilized, but we're still barbarians. I'm just disgusted by this whole story!

 

[Hilly]

They should tie the "artist" up and starve him for viewing pleasure!!!

 

[Simply Elegant]

That's so awful. That was and never will be art. It makes real art look bad too.

 

[RaynelleM]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hilly They should tie the "artist" up and starve him for viewing pleasure!!!

That's precisely what i was thinking!!

The ppl that went to look at this exhibition are even more sickening than the “artist” himself!!

I understand that in poorer countries where ppl don't even have enough to feed themselves let alone keep pets there all alot of stray dogs & cats. I remember once on a trip to India when I was younger I asked my dad why there were dogs walking around w/out owners and he told me that when there are so many ppl living on the street no one cares about stray animals. However, that is not a valid reason to put a poor vulnerable dog on display just to watch it slowly die, whether or not it may have died on the street!!

 

[MACATTAK]

Done! This is cruel to anyone with common sense and a heart!

 

[matsubie]

people should realize that even though "art" has evolved into so many forms, you should know the difference between what is actually art from mere infringement of life. shame on those who believe this is art. signed and done.

 

[newagetomatoz]

There is no way that this is "art," plain and simple. It is sick and he should be seriously evaluated by a mental health professional, because he is just serverly disturbed!!

 

[stacylynne]

I signed the petition. I won't even buy products that are tested on animals.
PPL are really sick in this world.
Hope they find this guy tie him to a tree, give him AIDS w/o any medical attention or food & watch him die slowly.
This is why I hate people & LOVE animals

 

[Brittni]

Hilly, when I saw this thread I couldn't bare to open it. Animal abuse strikes a really emotional cord within myself because I feel so compassionate for animals. They have no voices and it just isn't fair what people do to them...so I tried to just stay away from this thread. But then I got the same invite on facebook to join. The picture makes me absolutely speechless and teary-eyed. I definitely signed it and invited all of my facebook friends. Thanks for sharing this with everyone on here. xo

 

[northerngirl]

There's a facebook group about this so I already signed the petition some time ago. It's sickening.

 

[tigerli17]

I signed too. How he got away with calling it 'Art' I don't know!

 

[Lissa]

I was afraid to read it too, any animal cruelty upsets me very much - but I am glad I did and signed it. Each signature helps. I feel sick to read details like that but I hope they stop this happening again. How can people stand round and watch that happen? I hope this 'artist' gets what he deserves

 

[KittieSparkles]

Petition signed. I do not even know what to say about this. :-(

 

[Macnarsandlove]

so disgusting

 

[hrdruian]

I just found this out today on facebook!! i sent the petition to everyone i know and then figured i'd post it on here as well. Figures it would be YOU who beat me to it!! hahaha! He needs to be stopped. His point in it was that people wouldn't have cared about the dog if he was still on the street. UMM, yeah if he was still on the street he would at least have been able to look around for other sources for water and food. He needs to be stopped!!! everyone send it to everyone they know!!!!!

 

[tiramisu]

I agree with the poster who said this is why I hate the human race and love animals. Although I unfortunately can believe that even in our modern world people could be so ignorant and horribly evil under the guise of "art" it never excuses something so awful. It's like viewing a crime scene as "artistic". This is just sick. I'm going to go snuggle with my dogs now.

 

[babiid0llox]

I signed this. What kind of person would see this as art. It's more than sick it's just plain cruel. Oh btw the second one now has 2269778 signatures

 

[ratmist]

Right, I just thought I'd point out that there's a lot of misinformation about this incident. The only thing that we definitely know is that the "artist" used a starving dog in an exhibition in a gallery.

Facts:

1. We don't know if the dog actually died, and there are varying accounts as to how the "exhibit" was set up.

2. The gallery director maintains that the dog was fed and given proper treatment until it escaped from the gallery one evening. This was given in an interview in the Nicaraguan newpaper "La Prensa" (Translated version of http://www.laprensa.com.ni/archivo/2007/octubre/05/noticias/revista/219438.shtml)

3. The most extreme claims about the exhibit maintain the dog was subjected to continual abuse, confined to the gallery, denied food and water until it died after a few days.

4. Other accounts state the gallery deliberately set up the "exhibit" to make it appear that the dog was neglected while the gallery was open to the public, but the animal was otherwise properly cared for (after hours, presumably).

5. The reason stated by the Costa Rican "artist" for this exhibit is because there is no animal cruelty laws in Nicaragua, where the exhibit took place. Animals there are mistreated, abused, and starved to death every day throughout the world. Many countries do not have animal cruelty laws. There are reports that he says this was meant to highlight the fact that animal abuse happens all the time throughout the world, and we (as in human beings) are aware of it but we do nothing but stare at it and ignore it. Many walk past the abuse everyday and ignore it. If that was really his intention, he really succeeded, because everyone is up in arms and pissed off about this.

6. There are reports that the dog died and was replaced with another starving dog. If the first dog died, we don't know if it was replaced by another dog. The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) investigated this incident and made a statement saying there was only one dog, and it was not replaced with a second.

7. The "artist" did this "exhibit" in 2007. He is intending on exhibiting in a new exhibit this year, but has stated he has no intention of repeating the exhibit involving a dog, or creating a new exhibit involving a dog. The petition to "stop him" means nothing if he's not intending to do another "exhibit" involving a dog. It's just meant to stop him from ever doing another exhibit of any kind, in retaliation for the dog exhibit.

8. When the exhibit happened, there was almost no press about it. This is why there's little concrete information about what actually happened and why, except that we know there was a starving dog used in an exhibition. It's only now that the "artist" is about to exhibit again in an international scale (he is representing Costa Rica in the Central American Biennial) that people are pointing out that someone who did this shouldn't be allowed to do anything ever again - whether or not it involves a starving dog.

Information from: Urban Legends Reference Pages: Guillermo Vargas: Dog Starved for Art Exhibit

 

[tiramisu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ratmist Right, I just thought I'd point out that there's a lot of misinformation about this incident. The only thing that we definitely know is that the "artist" used a starving dog in an exhibition in a gallery. *snipped out the rest for scrolling's sake* LOL

Ratmist, I agree with most of what you've said... we truly don't know the exact details about what actually occurred. But, I bolded the above part, to prove my point--The fact that he used a starving dog in a gallery is enough for me. This is because, given the above bolded statement, this man then used this starving animal as art only "for art's sake".

As far as I know, he wasn't doing this to bring to light the terrible way most of the world views animals as easily expendable, or draw attention to the plight of stray, starving animals (or humans or whatever). He could have given the proceeds of his gallery exhibit to spay/neuter programs for strays, for shelters, etc. But he didn't as far as I know; it was for his and the gallery's profit, as an art exhibit. If he had, and fed the dog well--cared for it, then well it would be a whole other story certainly.

I like to think that if the dog "had" been well fed after the gallery owners/artist found it, then it wouldn't have "escaped from the art gallery" as the information you provided alluded to. LOL

I do appreciate the other side of this...when I first read it, I was thinking "no fing way, this has to be one of those urban legends" because it is just sick to even think of someone doing.