Is this Art?

[Julia]

In the 2007, the 'artist' Guillermo Vargas Habacuc, took a dog from the street, he tied him to a rope in an art gallery, starving him to death.

For several days, the 'artist' and the visitors of the exhibition have watched emotionless the shameful 'masterpiece' based on the dog's agony, until eventually he died. Does it look like art to you?
But this is not all... the prestigious Visual Arts Biennial of the Central American decided that the 'installation' was actually art, so that Guillermo Vargas Habacuc has been invited to repeat his cruel action for the biennial of 2008.

http://www.petitiononline.com/ea6gk/petition-sign.html (http://www.petitiononline.com/ea6gk/petition-sign.html)

Signing the above petition can help put an end to this 'Art'

[unicorn]

That is horrendous :eek: maybe they should use the artist as the exhibit.

[Flyermonkey]

Yes, it is art because the intention of the installation was to bring out strong emotions and ask the question 'if the dog had been left in the street would anyone have cared?'

It was also a scam, in that the dog didn't die and was in fact fed and watered before being allowed to escape back into the street...



It is reported in blogs (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog), Internet forums (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_forum) and YouTube (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube) uploads that in 2007 Guillermo Vargas allegedly took a stray dog called Natividad from the streets of Managua (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Managua), Nicaragua (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicaragua), and tied it to a short leash as an exhibit in an art gallery. It was initially reported that the dog was left to die with food just beyond its leashes length as patrons passed by in the gallery. Many images have appeared on the Internet showing a thin, emaciated dog tied to a line in a room full of standing people. There are no indications in the photos of where or when or who took them.[2] (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillermo_Vargas#cite_note-1)[3] (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillermo_Vargas#cite_note-2) He refuses to say whether the dog survived the show but the director of the Códice Gallery is reported as saying that the animal was fed regularly and was only tied up for 3 hours on one day before it escaped.[4] (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillermo_Vargas#cite_note-3) The Humane Society (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humane_Society)'s investigation revealed that, although public perception that the animal had died was part of the artwork's intended effect, the dog was in fact given food and water and allowed to escape back into the street at the conclusion of the exhibit
Wikipedia (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillermo_Vargas)

[jings00]

what? art? sick to my stomach reading about this.

[MadPict]

http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/vargas.asp

[Boozeburglar]

I get the feeling the guy never allowed any dog to die, in which case what he has done is perhaps going to have a net benefit.

[crustyroll]

If he came out and actually stated that he used it as a 'shock' tactic to get people to notice, without any harm coming to the dog and highlighting their suffering, fair enough... but he hasn't.

If the dog is back on the streets then it's no further on than before and put through stress it didn't need to be subjected to. He might feel differently if someone tied him up on a leash and stared at him.. :lol:

[jings00]

I daresay art is in the eye of the beholder, and again, I just don't think this is.

[Flair]

That isn't art in the same way that a pile of crumpled metal and broken engine parts isn't art. My art gallery would be full of paintings, sculptures and pieces of work that artists have taken time to do properly.

If I tore the engine out your car, smashed it to bits and placed all the pieces close together, does that make me a famous artist? No. I'd be serving a lengthy prison sentence for criminal damages. :Razz

And this, for me, is kind of the same thing. If I took a dog, put it in a gallery and starved it or made it suffer using any other slow and agonising method, does that make me an artist?

But yes, art is in the eye of the beholder and if that's your idea of art then fine, that's your choice. I won't try to change your mind.

[the_count]

Hmmm brings to mind a pile of bricks being called art or the unmade bed :eek: what will they think of next in the name of art. No don't answer lol the mind shudders at the thought.