I figured if I put it behind an lj-cut, people wouldn't look at it. And it needs to be seen. It's not like it has gore or anything, it just evokes terrible sadness/anger.
Unless you're the 'artist' who's using this poor starved dog as an art exhibit.
There's a big kerfluffle going on in one of the writing communities I'm in. Someone wrote a piece inspired by the picture, from different viewpoints of people in the room, and finally the dog itself. However, the squabble ensued because they didn't put it under an lj-cut (because of the image and length), and whether or not it was suitable/appropriate for the community. Petty, but I suppose valid since the community does have rules.. but they missed the point entirely of the content itself. I honestly wasn't a fan of the piece of work that came attached to this picture, but felt the need to do SOMETHING about this, or at least say my piece.
The 'artist' Guillermo Vargas took the starving dog off the street and tied it on a leash to use as an exhibit. Apparently the irony and hipocrisy of people that would come to look at a dog that they would normally ignore if they passed it by on the street is 'art'. From there the stories vary. Some say the dog was chased, further starved, and died during the exhibit. Others say it was cared for, but not attended while on the exhibit to give the impression that it was indeed starving, and that it escaped.
Now, I'm not usually one to get on my soapbox or yell about chickens not being nuggets. But if this guy is allowed to continue, where does it stop? Is he going to get some orphan and put them on display, because it's ironic that their parents were both artists? What about someone who was blind and had been mislead so that they didn't even know they were on exhibit? Would that be good artwork?
My point is: yes, it's sad if the dog really was starved and really did die - but even if the man did take care of it, how is this art.. tying up a dog in a room of people that are ignoring it, watching it suffer? What happened to art being something you made with your own hands, using a brush or a pen or lump of clay or stone?
Even if all the press isn't true, the basis is bad enough.
At least the people taking pictures of hobos on the streets don't give them false hope.
"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."
-US Human Society International.
Good
Articles:
http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/v
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillermo_H
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?A
Petitions against the artist:
I believe it's the same one, just in different languages. Also, I'm not aware as to how online petitions work, or if they have any validity or not.
http://www.petitiononline.com/ea6gk/
http://www.petitiononline.com/13031953/
I should've turned this into a formal essay. My thoughts are all jumbled.
- Mood:
sad
![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
thexbatxbuckle and I were running our weekly sojourn of errands (yay for knowing how to do our chemistry, and getting out of class an hour and a half early). Eat at Las Mas, pick up her check, go to the bank.. then go by the store.For those of you that don't know, one of my friends works at an ag/auto supply store that his family owns. We go there when we need stuff. T needed windshield wiper fluid, so we stopped by, she brought him a Coke:Zero, we joked around with him and his father, got the stuff, and were on our way.
Here's where the real story begins.
We were outside, and she was pouring the fluid in. She finishes, and as she's shutting the hood, a cop pulls up. Mind you, he pulled off the highway that goes by the store, drove around the store, and pulled up at an angle to the passenger side of the car, where I was about to get in.
As I was wondering what illegal activity I'd recently done, he asked "You two know what you're doing?" or something like that. We laughed, and said yes. We thought he was joking. He wasn't - he then asked if we were sure. Once we assured him that, we were, indeed, sure, he asked if we'd work on his car, T said it depended on what it was, he said it had a rattle, she said probably not, yadayada, he drove away.
So this COP pulled off the HIGHWAY to see if we needed help pouring windshield wiper fluid into the little tube marked 'windshield wiper fluid'. Did I mention we're still parked outside the auto supply store?
We went back in, and told our friend what had happened. They said they'd seen him. We had a laugh.
It just makes me think... that cop would rather pull over to 'help' (who are we kidding? a huge container of blue wiper fluid can't be mistaken for anything that takes two brain cells to put into your vehicle. he stopped because we were two college-age girls, or that's what I assume) us, than look for the numerous drug labs that inherit the town he's supposed to be patrolling. Or catch the people speeding, driving drunk (yes, people drive drunk here at 2 in the afternoon), driving without their liscence, or running around while they have a warrant for their arrest out (all of these - common, easily caught if the cops would do their job instead of wasting time on the clock).
I'll stop ranting now. Maybe he was just trying to be nice. Who knows.
- Mood:
contemplative - Music:She Wants Revenge - monolouge
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