While this story may yet turn out a hoax, the following isn’t.
Warning. This is an extremely disturbing link. Costa Rican artist Guillermo Vargas Habacuc starves a dog to death in a gallery exhibition of “installation art”.
He has been asked to recreate the installation for the prestigious Biennial of Central America. Information here, but this really requires more action than a petition.
he should film it in canada and get some tax credits…
SWINE!! That SOB should be shot!
That literally made me nauseous.
Regardless of if these are hoaxes or not, the idea is that it is the reaction to the “art” that counts these days. I wonder if Sarah Polley would agree:
“It’s the job of artists to provoke and to challenge. Part of the responsibility of being an artist is to create work that will inspire dialogue, suggest that people examine their long-held positions and, yes, occasionally offend in order to do so.”
Here’s an “art” proposal: we’ll deny all these so-called artists any tax money, film their response, call it “Reality Bites”, then donate any profit to the Canada 5(or 6)…
I posted this down in reader tips below, but since this is a thread about art that turns your stomach, I’m afraid I’ve got to one-up you Kate.
This young women impregnated herself repeatedly, then filmed the abortions. It’s her final class project.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,351608,00.html
Oops… sorry kate. I thought they linked to the same place. Delete my last if you will.
Even the article brushed over the massive disrespect for reproduction and human life in general. I am unsurprised that even pro-choicers were disgusted. I am also unsurprised that the article makes absolutely no effort to quote any actual people against it – only those supportive of it.
All that is wrong with people’s attitudes towards their bodies and towards human life – wrapped up in one tight little art project. Disgusting.
I agree with duffman. The only crime here is that the “artist” did not receive any government funding for his project. Shame on you Costa Rica!
Remember – this is the same arts community that looks down their noses at Robert Bateman.
Is this for real? A so called artist starving a dog to death and calling it art? People walking around with wine glasses critiquing it? Excuse me while I vomit.
If this is real and if I ever had a chance to meet this person I would do some death art on him.
I don’t want to be among earthlings anymore.
Actually this one is undetermined.
http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/vargas.asp
ah..the mclelland… a fourty year whisky if there was one to be had..
imagine if you can a man who would dare semi hemi devi equivocate about cruelty to a helpless animal..
Flense the bastard.
Starving a dog is art?
how progressive.
Well, with the “death” of God, anything goes. We’re reaping the whirlwind of that.
Remember, the Prince of this World is Satan. If one didn’t believe in either Satan or his standing here before, maybe these two abominations will cause one to reconsider.
Mental illness at it’s finest!
I’d pay good money to see this SOB “artist” at the end of a chain starved.
Let’s bail out the Farely Mowat, fuel it up, and send it off to Costa Rica. Everyone comes out a winner.
Good thoughts, lookout. Here is something else to think about.
Proverbs 8
32 “Now therefore, O sons, listen to me,
For blessed are they who keep my ways.
33 “Heed instruction and be wise,
And do not neglect it.
34″Blessed is the man who listens to me,
Watching daily at my gates,
Waiting at my doorposts.
35 “For he who finds me finds life
And obtains favor from the LORD.
36″But he who sins against me injures himself;
All those who hate me love death.”
PIMF-Farley
Absolute moral depravity.
Amen, Brent Weston.
“It is a work that leaves a social message, is definitely conceptual art and the people he is still working to digest this type of work,” said the director.
I’m not a flasher in a rain coat,
I’m not a dirty old man,
I’m not gonna snatch you from your mother,
I’m an art lover.
Come to daddy,
Ah, come to daddy,
Come to daddy.
He better hope that none of his contemporaries try to one-up him with a performance piece titled “Slow Vivisection of Artist” .
No different than tearing apart children in the womb and calling it “choice”.
Well, it certainly isn’t ‘art’. Around here we call that cruelty to animals and it is a criminal offense (let alone a good example of moral dementia).
I am a deer hunter (among other things) so I can’t pretend to unconditionally love all animals, but I do eat what I kill and make sure that I employ the strategy of the ‘one-shot hunt’. One clean, humane and quick killing shot.
Starving an animal to death is disgusting. Doing it while the (retarded) public watch is, well, I’m speechless…
I have visited Costa Rica on many occassions. Their number one industry is tourism.
Anybody with any moral conviction whatsoever should write a letter to the President. Believe me, the President is easy to get to and he will read his mail.
This is not just a question of cruelty to animals, or not having this ‘artist’ represent Costa Rica. It is a question of convicting him as a criminal and him paying the penalty.
It’s often been stated that killers start with torturing and killing animals and then move on. This piece of shit is doing it right in the public eye.
He should become a pariah. And any patron or gallery that supports him should suffer the same fate.
Starve the bastard to death.
Sick. No, very sick.
Really hope this is a hoax.
If not, I wish some bad ass karma for that loser of a person.
Having spent more than a few weeks in Costa Rica, I can tell you that people there don’t actually have dogs as “pets” the way we do in North America.
They’re kept mean and lean, as watch dogs, because any house left empty, even for a few hours, is likely to be robbed.
I can’t get myself to watch the video, but am not surprised that this sickening artistic “installation” took place in Costa Rica, where dogs aren’t exactly thought of man’s best friend.
In this case, man isn’t exactly dog’s best friend, either.
Ha! He would got have gotten a big fat grant to starve that poor dog if he was in Canada…
Ha! He would got have gotten a big fat grant to starve that poor dog if he was in Canada…
Ha! He would got have gotten a big fat grant to starve that poor dog if he was in Canada…
I think Rob Reiner, Glenn Close, Diane Keaton would be proud look at the new heights artists are reaching they must be in their glory.
All hail the new way. The Left is showing us a glorious new way of enlightenment.
We should kneel and give thanks to our betters for their wisdom, their generosity in allowing us to breath the same sacred air they breath. They are gods who walk among us.
Allowing us to glimpse their wisdom their infallibilty praise be to Hollywood. For they lead us to the light.
Truly sad no matter what animal he may have chosen to abuse.
Even more sad is the fact that he seems to have quite a following equally morally deprived people who find it entertaining.
Al W, John V, Orlin, Pierce, mark peters:
What makes that dog’s fate any worse than a lost dog or better yet, a homeless bum in Canada, or the starving rioters in costa rica/haiti? What have you done to change their situation?
If you haven’t done fuckall, what makes this dog so special, that you seem to value it so highly above them?
ALL CULTURES ARE EQUAL !
ALL CULTURES ARE EQUAL !
ALL CULTURES ARE EQUAL !
http://www.dack.com/images/weblog/kevin-bacon.jpg
I grew up on a dairy farm. We had dogs, we had cats, cows of course….I hope to God this is a hoax…
Lookout:
My reaction was the same as yours. Without God, all things are not merely possible. Rather, they are certain. If man can do it, he will do it, if only to demonstrate that NO ONE can tell him what he can and cannot do.
However, in the case of the Yale “artist”, I wonder where her parents are in all of this. What does her mother think, and what sort of relationship does she have with her daughter? Clearly, the child’s actions (and she IS a child, no matter what her chronological age) are defiant and spiteful. However, I thought some of her comments, absurd and superficially “intellectual” as they were, conveyed more about herself than she intended. “I hope it inspires some sort of discourse,” she said. Indeed, I hope it does.
I’d pay good money to see this SOB “artist” at the end of a chain starved.
Posted by: Pierce at April 17, 2008 5:29 PM
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
I’d pay even MORE good money to see this SOB “artist” at the end of a rope.
As someone who has three utterly annoying, rambunctious and good natured dogs in the family, I am and remain of the opinion that dogs have a greater right to a good life than many a so-called “human” being, and if this story is true, the moral degenerate in question, and his admirers do not qualify as human, ergo, they are worth less than my dogs. Deliberately causing a living being extended suffering for no conceivable reason other than self-promotion is on the same level as making lamp-shades out of tattooed human skin taken from executed death camp prisoners (choose your dictatorship – it’s a common occurrence). Lefties who object to the above can kiss my ass. While they do so, my dogs will urinate on them in disdain and leave some choice doggy doo for them to step in when they’re done kissing my ass.
If I remember correctly, years ago a “artist” was going to stomp a puppy in Vancouver, and on the day it was supposed to happen, people showed up with pitbulls and other large breed dogs to let loose on the guy. I think in the end it turned out to be another bullshit attention getting “art” student.
“Release the hounds, Smithers.”
I read the article about the fool who thought abortions were art, but I can’t bring myself to even open the link about the starving dog as “art”. The fitting treatment for such an artist would be that we find five or six very large dogs, put them in a cellar and starve them only half way, then throw the “artiste” in with the ravenous works of art.
Can I be hauled before the Costa Rica equivalent of an HRC for saying such a thing?
Of course, when you have actual cultural grants being given out for such treasures as the famous “hanging rabbits” of south Winnipeg a few years back, well, I guess pretty much anything goes.
irwin daisy: Believe me, the President is easy to get to and he will read his mail.
Jesus Christ, that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen posted on SDA. And this place is pretty fertile ground for stupid.
batb: …because any house left empty, even for a few hours, is likely to be robbed.
And right on cue, the runner-up stupidity prize goes to batb, who having spent “more than a few weeks” in Costa Rica, figures herself sufficiently knowledgeable to deem the whole country as being infested with criminals.
Hey irwin ‘moral conviction’ daisy: have you dispatched your letter to the President yet?
It is becoming very hard for a person to accept some of the stuff that the sophists pass an art.
Just hearing and seeing some of the stuff, one wanders what makes people that apparently actually go to school to presumably study art, what is it that makes these people to do these utterly is and completely stupid things. Looks and sounds more like some kind of sadistic and masochistic ritual for no other reason than to get attention.
Consider this for a minute, however outrageous this sounds.
If an American president graduated from an art school, then went to war to express his artistic and intellectual prowess, would that be somehow OK? After all it would be just an artistic expression never mind the consequences, an artist must do, what an artist must do.
As for the Yale freako, apparently it was a hoax, all made up to get famous.
From the Human Society of the United States’ website FAQ:
Q. Is it true that a Central American artist used a starving dog in an art exhibit?
We are aware of this story and have asked our contacts in Central America for more information. According to local animal welfare organizations, the dog was in a state of starvation when he was captured from the street for display in the exhibit. We have also been informed that the dog spent one day in the exhibit and later escaped the gallery. We do not condone the actions of this so-called “artist,” and condemn the use of live animals in exhibits such as this. An animal welfare organization in Honduras, where the next art show will be held, is keeping close watch on the case and assures us that the artist will not repeat his objectionable exhibit.
Sadly, thousands of street dogs in Central America are in as poor shape as this one. HSI works throughout the world to prevent the circumstances that allow such a tragic event to take place. We encourage you to learn more about our street animal welfare programs.
How many of you have ever passed by a mangy-looking stray dog or cat wandering the street without taking it in and nurturing it back to health? That, after all, was Mr. Vargas’ point–that we willfully overlook animal suffering all the time.
It’s possible to condemn Mr. Vargas’ methods and still take his point.
I wonder where her parents are in all of this.
Mom and dad are tentatively upset, anxious, but, that could pass quickly if they get positive feedback from their liberal friends who understand the soul of an emerging artist.
I bet the parents are affluent “open-minded” liberals whose very special daughter was never subject to anything that would have hurt her self-esteem. How else do you produce a kid that formulates such a stunt and views the world as her stage. Here’s a kid, regardless of whether this was a hoax, that is totally devoid of boundaries, social decorum, morals and respect for herself or others. Kids like this aren’t forged in a vacuum.
Exhibit your abortion, starve a dog to death…. only in the twisted world of the twisted left’s elitist culture can the pathological personality disordered designate their illness as art and get away with it.
He better hope that none of his contemporaries try to one-up him with a performance piece titled “Slow Vivisection of Artist” .
Posted by: shakenat April 17, 2008 6:57 PM
I am encouraged by the words of the Human (sic) Society – that the animal was not let to die. I hope that this is a hoax.
I am inclined to become a performance artist (if it is true), and look to create that beautiful theme that leaves no remnants behind – as is the proper definition of the genre.
Consenting abuse among people is one thing, sadism another.
http://www.sfweekly.com/2000-02-23/news/public-enema-no-2/
And – I’ll say it – and debate it with anyone.
No domesticated animal should be bred until all of the shelters are emptied – and the pets adopted or put down.
Period.
Despite the vanity breeding – or ‘competition’ show animals – let us say it again:
No domesticated animals should be allowed to breed until all of the SPCA’s have no animals to adopt.
Pretty simple, no?
Aside from saving thousands of sentient critters from needless suffering, an added bonus sees thousands saved from making needless vanity trophies for those insecure enough to pump out life for a piece of bronze on marble.
A) The Humane Society of the United States is an animal rights group, fashioned after PETA and with a bigger bank account. They run not a single shelter. They are all about legislation, not animal welfare. The only time they get involved in a animal abuse case is to exploit it for fund raising purposes.
See activistcash.com
B) There is no dog over-population in most parts of the United States or Canada. The majority of dogs surrendered these days are old, sick, have temperament issues or of crosses that are difficult to place – pit bulls, in particular.
We see the same phenomenon in purebred rescue. Nobody surrenders a Miniature Schnauzer because it’s “unwanted”. They dump it because it’s old, or bites people.
Ending breeding of purebred dogs will not alter this – show dogs make up less than 5 per cent of the population in most breeds, less in some. In some rare breeds, fewer than a dozen litters are born each year. Suspending breeding for as few as 3 – 4 years would cause some pure breeds to go into extinction, or irreversable genetic decline through collapse of their gene pools and loss of genetic diversity. That’s because breeding lifespan of a female dog is usually no more than 6 years at best.
Some humane societies are actually importing dogs from places like Puerto Rico to satisfy the “demand”.