Starving a dog to death isn't art

[IzzyNYC]

The "artist" Guillermo Vargas Habacuc
tied a dog to a post in a museum and had people watch it starve to
death and called it art. Please sign the petition, link below. If
you'd like to read more, I've also attached a link to the ASPCA about
it.

Boycott to the presence of Guillermo Vargas Habacuc at the Bienal
Centroamericana Honduras 2008:
http://www.petition online.com/ ea6gk/petition. html (http://www.petitiononline.com/ea6gk/petition.html)

http://aspcacommuni ty.ning.com/ group/stopping (http://aspcacommunity.ning.com/group/stopping)

[Loppfessor]

If this is true they should do the same thing to the so called "artist" and see what he thinks bout it

[AceFace]

oh it's very true, they have video of the poor doggie suffering.

[Randetica]

i signed it eventhough my dog looks like straight up art (http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p137/randetica/004.jpg)

[ms.peachy]

Hmm, I read about this yesterday; I am not convinced that the dog was 'starved'. Although I can certainly see the debate as to whether keeping the dog confined consists of cruelty, I do find it interesting how very many people are so keen to prove the artist's point and go "oh the poor doggie!" and mount and international outcry, and yet do nothing about the millions of starving people in the world.

[Waus]

It's my understanding that this was a hoax to get idiots to pay attention to his art exhibit.

http://www.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.laprensa.com.ni%2Farc hivo%2F2007%2Foctubre%2F05%2Fnoticias%2Frevista%2F 219438.shtml&langpair=es%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF8

Also I agree that starving humans is a much more important and complicated issue, and the outrage over this dog starving annoys me simply because of the lack of reaction starving people get in comparison.

[na§tee]

reminds me of the yale abortion-as-art student (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,351730,00.html) fiasco that is happening at the moment too. fake/real/fake/real/real/real/fake/etc hmm, for real or clever comment on the form and function of women's bodies WHO KNOWS?! :rolleyes:

[IzzyNYC]

Hmm, I read about this yesterday; I am not convinced that the dog was 'starved'. Although I can certainly see the debate as to whether keeping the dog confined consists of cruelty, I do find it interesting how very many people are so keen to prove the artist's point and go "oh the poor doggie!" and mount and international outcry, and yet do nothing about the millions of starving people in the world.

My heart truly breaks for people suffering and I try to do what I can to make a difference... but I also have compassion for defensless animals. That's all. ;)

[Randetica]

IF YOU WANT TO CHANGE THE WORLD then go and make 10 threads about starving kids, this thread is about a starving dog

dont bring that shit always up, it's annoying

[Waus]

IF YOU WANT TO CHANGE THE WORLD then go and make 10 threads about starving kids, this thread is about a starving dog

dont bring that shit always up, it's annoying

Fair enough. Either way, the dog wasn't even really starving.

[ms.peachy]

IF YOU WANT TO CHANGE THE WORLD then go and make 10 threads about starving kids, this thread is about a starving dog

dont bring that shit always up, it's annoying
Uh... but that was the whole point, yuh? It was never about a starving dog?

and frankly if you want to change the world, don't start any bloomin' threads - shut off your damn computer and go out and actually DO something.

[IzzyNYC]

Trust me, I put my time in volunteering (mostly with young, underserved humans). Should I stop there? I think the internet is a great tool for getting the word out. I don't really know how much of an impact petitions have but for whatever it's worth, this thread got at least one person to sign it. (y)

[Randetica]

Uh... but that was the whole point, yuh? It was never about a starving dog?

and frankly if you want to change the world, don't start any bloomin' threads - shut off your damn computer and go out and actually DO something.

you started moaning so go and spend your money on africa, bono or whoever

[Yetra Flam]

i thought it was a hoax as well

[ms.peachy]

you started moaning so go and spend your money on africa, bono or whoever

Erm, when exactly was I moaning? I just flagged up the irony of the fact that all of these 'outraged' people are playing right into the artist's hands. "Oh woe is me, the ickle furry hanimals, we have to dooooooo something!" It's a total joke.

[Randetica]

i didnt even read the article

it just always happens when people talk about poor animals someone jumps in and is like HELP HUMANS FIRST CAUSE THEY ARE THE REFLECTION OF GOD AND SO ABOVE EVERYTHING!!!1

like i have to feel bad that i care about animals.. many dont care about animals nor humans but only about themselves so jump on their throats instead

[ms.peachy]

Here's a related example, in case you don't quite get it yet, from today's Guardian:
The British public gives more to a Devon-based donkey sanctuary than the most prominent charities trying to combat violence and abuse against women, a report released today by a leading philanthropy watchdog reveals.

New Philanthropy Capital (NPC) has calculated that more than 7 million women have been affected by domestic violence but found that Refuge, the Women's Aid Federation and Eaves Housing for Women have a combined annual income of just £17m. By contrast the Donkey Sanctuary, which has looked after 12,000 donkeys, received £20m in 2006.

NPC estimates the cost to society of domestic abuse, sexual violence, forced marriage, trafficking and honour crimes has reached £40bn a year - greater than the country's defence budget.

"As a society we are not spending enough on this issue whether through charities or the government," said Justine Järvinen, the author of the report. "Violence against women appears regularly as the subject of media reports and in the storylines of soap operas but rarely does it come up in normal conversation, which suggests there is a stigma around it. The truth is it is very common."

Every year 1.5 million women experience domestic abuse at least once, 800,000 are sexually assaulted and 100,000 raped, the report states. More than one in four women has experienced at least one incident of domestic violence by a current or former partner, which means 7.4 million women in the UK have suffered domestic abuse, according to government figures.

The NPC was established by former executives of Goldman Sachs to analyse the effectiveness of charities for wealthy donors and has calculated the cost of this abuse at £40bn a year. This is made up of £10bn for the cost of lost economic output caused by abuse as well as the police work, court cases and psychological and physical healthcare arising from the abuse. Victims may also place greater demands on housing and benefit budgets if they have to move away, often with children, from a shared home with the abuser.

NPC has calculated the emotional cost of abuse of women is £30bn a year, using accepted measures devised by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence for translating emotional cost into financial cost. Sexual violence accounts for £26bn of the cost with domestic violence accounting for £20bn.

Prostitution, trafficking and violence against black and ethnic minority women accounts for the rest. "The government has a responsibility to change attitudes and prevent abuse from happening in the first place," said Järvinen. "A third of men think that domestic violence is acceptable if their partner has been nagging them."

Today's report references an ICM poll which found that more people would call the police if someone was mistreating their dog than if someone was mistreating their partner. NPC is calling for concerted government action to tackle violence against women and is urging charitable donors to divert more to non-governmental organisations in the sector.

It said that the 200 largest charities which provide services for abused women or campaign to prevent abuse have a combined annual income of £97m. That compares with £110m for the RSPCA, £149m for the Royal National Lifeboat Institute and £83m for the Royal Opera House.

[Randetica]

what else is new

[Yetra Flam]

see this is what annoys me: everyone always gets all up in my ass about me being a vegetarian because i'm concerned about the wellbeing of animals. "what about the well being of people?"
seriously. we get it.
jesus.

[ms.peachy]

Trust me, I put my time in volunteering (mostly with young, underserved humans). Should I stop there? I think the internet is a great tool for getting the word out. I don't really know how much of an impact petitions have but for whatever it's worth, this thread got at least one person to sign it. (y)
It's great that you volunteer. But I would think if you want to use the internet to "get the word out", you'd want to make sure that the word you were getting out had some substance behind it in the first place - the internet is not just a tool for spreading information, but misinformation and disinformation as well. Personally I think internet petitions have about as much impact as signing your name on a piece of toilet paper and sending it down the can - it's the ultimate in slacktivism. And as has been seen here, people sign them without even reading really what they are about, so how could they possibly have any value?

[Randetica]

talk for yourself, i dont eat animals but i sure eat human babies!

[ms.peachy]

see this is what annoys me: everyone always gets all up in my ass about me being a vegetarian because i'm concerned about the wellbeing of animals. "what about the well being of people?"
seriously. we get it.
jesus.

I understand that, but that's not the point. It's great that people care about animals. Heck, I care about animals. The point is that this artist spot-on anticipated people's reactions, and it underlines the scale of the disparity.

[gbsuey]

it's insane that so much more money is going to donkeys-comical almost
before i had my kids i used to have the attitude that humans are just a scourge upon this beautiful planet and what right do we have to rule over the creatures we share the planet with-but whilst i still feel animals are just as important,having created two little humans gave me a different perspective. all life should be respected-fuck,now i REALLY sound like a hippie!

[Randetica]

and sorry peachy, i didnt mean to "jump" on you, im just quite sensitive when it comes to that topic even when the original topic didnt have much to do with the topic i was talking about lol

sensitive cause it's just that people ALWAYS come up with starving kids comments when theres a discussion about animals and it annoys the shit out of me cause we actually have enough heart/thoughts for both but when we talk about animals then we should talk animals.

but in this case i can forgive you :0

[Dorothy Wood]

I don't think that torturing an animal is art. It caused a stir, but it seems cheap, pointless and cruel.

and the "you are what you read" thing written in dog food on the wall...just...embarrassing. art school schlock.

perhaps if he slaughtered and prepared the dog as food for starving children, we'd have something.

[Randetica]

we have this idiotic artist called hermann nitsch who slaughters animals (mostly pigs) in front of everyone, soaks some girl with the pig blood and calls it art, you can also buy his bloody pig paintings

you just can call about everything art thats the good and bad thing about art

[ms.peachy]

and sorry peachy, i didnt mean to "jump" on you, im just quite sensitive when it comes to that topic even when the original topic didnt have much to do with the topic i was talking about lol

sensitive cause it's just that people ALWAYS come up with starving kids comments when theres a discussion about animals and it annoys the shit out of me cause we actually have enough heart/thoughts for both but when we talk about animals then we should talk animals.

but in this case i can forgive you :0

Thanks I'm sorry too, I didn't mean to be so harsh.

[ericlee]

I was wondering where norcen ran off to..

[venusvenus123]

this petition is doing the round on facebook now... unsurprisingly

[funk63]

Peta's gonna be all over this bitch

[Lex Diamonds]

TBH it is art purely by the fact that thousands of people are debating it's suggestions and intentions. Whether you like it or not this is art, there isn't too much to separate it from Damien Hurst's dissected animals, which won several awards.

SO KMA

[russhie]

Why deny the donkeys, ey?

It's my money. I can give it to whovever the hell I want.