Artist Starved a dog for art!

artieanna

Just wondering if any of you heard of this guy from Costa Rica Guillermo Habacuk Vargos who put a starving dog in a gallery and left it there until it died.

This is so cruel and would appreciate it if you would please sign this petition in opposition of this artist abuse of a living animal ...

full story and petition here
http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/vargas.asp

Bubs101

It's extremely cruel but the point that he makes is a great one and it is a ridiculous to ask people to sign it without reading the point he makes, most people would certainly ignore strays like that all the time and this one has garnered world wide attention. Hypocrites much?

brianthebard

didn't this happen ages ago?did it actually die?

Maddison

Bubs101 wrote: »

It's extremely cruel but the point that he makes is a great one and it is a ridiculous to ask people to sign it without reading the point he makes, most people would certainly ignore strays like that all the time and this one has garnered world wide attention. Hypocrites much?

Im sorry but NOBODY has a right to starve a living creature. There is NO point to this.

Calibos

Bubs101 wrote: »

It's extremely cruel but the point that he makes is a great one and it is a ridiculous to ask people to sign it without reading the point he makes, most people would certainly ignore strays like that all the time and this one has garnered world wide attention. Hypocrites much?

Except the stray could rumage in bins and on the streets for scraps. How was it meant to do that tied up in a gallery

Bubs101

Calibos wrote: »

Except the stray could rumage in bins and on the streets for scraps. How was it meant to do that tied up in a gallery

That's not the point. The point is about the hypocrisy of people and it's made well, albeit in a horrible way

Calibos

Bubs101 wrote: »

That's not the point. The point is about the hypocrisy of people and it's made well, albeit in a horrible way

It is the point.
There is no hypocrisy because it is a very different thing for someone on the street to ignore a dog that may or may not be a stray and may or may not be getting enough to eat by scavenging...and then on the other hand be up in arms about an artist tying a dog up and starving it to death to make a point about what is non existant hypocrisy.

Gazza22

I understand the point the artist is making but he is a very very sick man if he needs to go that low for so called 'Art'.

People walk by others starving, homeless on the streets every day. Would we take a homeless person off the streets, put them in an exhibition tied up with no food until they die? Just to highlight that a fuss would be made if we took one otherwise unknown homeless person and put them in the spotlight?

No, we wouldn't, so it shouldn't be done to animals either. He only got away with it because there was no animal protection laws where the exhibition took place. This guy should be shunned at international level.

Fajitas!

Piece was a sucess.

Gazza22

Fajitas! wrote: »

Piece was a sucess.

Obviously, he has achieved his point on an international scale. Though whether it was a success or not if irrelevant in this thread, as the OP is trying to highlight the distasteful element of his work...

Bubs101

Calibos wrote: »

It is the point.
There is no hypocrisy because it is a very different thing for someone on the street to ignore a dog that may or may not be a stray and may or may not be getting enough to eat by scavenging...and then on the other hand be up in arms about an artist tying a dog up and starving it to death to make a point about what is non existant hypocrisy.

I see your point but realistically lets look at some facts.

1. The dog was definitely a stray. It says so
2. It was so weak it was caught by some kids
3. This piece of art will probably shed more light then ever possible on the plight of those stray dogs in Costa Rica probably helping the majority in the long term

If anything the piece was probably good for dogs

brianthebard

the dog sacrificed himself for the general good of his people.beautiful sentiment imo.

T-max

It would be great if the Artist in question decided to make himself the Art Exhibition for his next project...

ztoical

This is such old news - "Juanita Bermúdez, director of the Códice Gallery, insisted Natividad escaped after just one day. She said: 'It was untied all the time except for the three hours the exhibition lasted and it was fed regularly with dog food Habacuc himself brought in" Also no one who saw the piece tired to free the dog, feed it nor did they complain to the gallery about it. This is a case of mis-information being passed around the internet

artieanna

Gazza22 wrote: »

I understand the point the artist is making but he is a very very sick man if he needs to go that low for so called 'Art'.

People walk by others starving, homeless on the streets every day. Would we take a homeless person off the streets, put them in an exhibition tied up with no food until they die? Just to highlight that a fuss would be made if we took one otherwise unknown homeless person and put them in the spotlight?

No, we wouldn't, so it shouldn't be done to animals either. He only got away with it because there was no animal protection laws where the exhibition took place. This guy should be shunned at international level.

Exactly...
What have we come to as human beings if we would go into a gallery to look at a starving, dying dog and hmmm and hawww about what a wonderful piece of work it is...

I know what the guy is saying but I wouldn't need to see a dying dog to be convinced....

Galvasean

If you ask me the dog stood a much better chance of survival scavenging the streets than simply being left in a situation where it could not possibly survive.
Highlighting the plight of dogs in Costa Rica? Please. Im just sure the art fans at the exhibit all went out and rescued a stray.

BlackCat2008

For those of you that don't know me Hi, I'm Blackcat and I have crossed over from the animal forums were I asked Artieanna to post this here for me and he kindly did (thank you again) to try to clear up the miss understanding as to why this piece of dirt did what he did.

You will need to read most of this to get the picture, I see it as an eye for an eye, and a life for a life if the past has thought us anything it seems to go right over this mans head.

http://www.google.com/translate?u=http://salonkritik.net/06-07/2007/10/aclaracion_tema_hababuc_rodolf.php


Including putting the children that caught the dog in the same position surely this man know these were poor children no money for doctors and if bitten or savaged would probably have died from the infection.Why didn't he catch it himself the coward.


This man clearly needs help to deal with his anger.

I have looked at every picture I can find and clearly the dog gets tinner and tinner and in one you can tell the lights in It's eyes have gone out and it is on deaths door step. From some one with experience of rescuing under weight dogs even with a min. of food and water the dog would have held the same weight and it is clear to me it did not. Do you's really think that the dog would have been left to roam the gallery at night ? Think about it, dog dirt every were and anything it could get it's teeth into and who was going to catch it the following morning. If it was all above board why didn't he ask the WSPA (who I believe are only around the corner from the gallery) or another animal welfare group to over see the dogs welfare for the exhibition. Who does this director think he's kidding he's just covering his own ass.


Here's some quotes I picked out in case you don't read down that far
-A tribute (violent)
-One dog can not be held accountable for all dogs in the world.
-Crime "Action" improper or reprehensible.
-"Torture" Neither art nor culture.
-What world are we creating.

It was a tragedy what happened to Natividad Canada and this has happened all over the world from time to time but making an example of one run down mute is not going to stop it happing in the future after all I don't know any dogs that can read the papers or use the net so who is he making an example to ?

coolwings

The title of this thread: Artist starved a dog for art!
maybe should be more correctly: Artist starved a dog for notoriety!

It's wrong. We know it.
Down through history people who desired fame but couldn't get it have murdered and destroyed to achieve infamy. Infamy became their "Plan B" for success as they saw it. And some of them were just bad, sadistic, whatever, so that infamy/notoriety was their career plan A.

Why this art gallery were willing to play along with such a nasty "piece of work" appears mystifying at first, but only until you take the above into account. The gallery's acceptance of the circumstances and thier cooperation shows they too wanted their moment of fame/publicity/notoriety.

They are unpleasant low ethics people doing what they can for money or power.
Decent people will boycott such exhibitions without being asked. And good governments make laws to control these types and their activities.

ztoical

BlackCat2008 wrote: »

It was a tragedy what happened to Natividad Canada and this has happened all over the world from time to time but making an example of one run down mute is not going to stop it happing in the future after all I don't know any dogs that can read the papers or use the net so who is he making an example to ?

The director of the gallery where this took place has stated on record that the dog was feed while at the gallery and was only on exhibition for 3 hours before it escaped. Any photos online where you think the dog is getting thiner and thiner ask yourself what the odds are that they have been photoshopped.

Also ask yourself if there is such an out pouring over the internet over the faith of the dog why did no one at the gallery attempt to stop it when it happened? People have stopped or tired to stop other performance pieces that they didn't agree with or have attack paintings/instalations/sculptures they have issue with so if this dog was being so badly mistreated as claimed and had died in front of people - why didn't those who witnessed it do something to stop it?