Starving Dog Exhibit Causes Public Outcry
I wanted to take a moment to respond to this story that has been circulating since about October of 2007. In many ways it is a non-story, but it continues to grow and spread and now over the last couple of weeks has made it through my campus.
Here is a link to one account.
The reason I say this is a non-story is not because the topic is not important, but because it appears to have not happened. The dog was not actually starved to death.
The artist exhibited a stray dog in an exhibition to bring people's attention to something that outside of a gallery context they would normally ignore. The rumors that the dog was starved (rather than a dog that was starving on the streets was brought into the gallery) spread from an inaccurate (sensationalist) news report and then through the internet. The gallery owner reported that the dog was cared for and fed. There has been no evidence uncovered that the dog was starved.
In some ways this reaction to the exhibit seems to support the artist's intent. The general public is not outraged on a regular basis in this way about the fact that many dogs and cats are abandoned on the streets and may starve to death, but rather the actual exhibit that was designed to bring this situation to the attention of the public is what people have become upset about.
This may ironically turn out to be a powerful example of how art may still be able to raise both public awareness and expose public hypocrisy.
2 comments:
I was intrigued by the entire situation;the artists intentions, the public response, and the rumors that circled around the "starving> dogg". I find it interesting that upon rumors of a dog being starved> and mistreated for the purpose of art people were outraged. I feel> there is a pshychology behind this and an interesting one at that. Although it is good to see that humanity still exists, on the other hand, it's interesting to see people get so worked up about this one specific scenario when humans allow cats and dogs to be abandoned and starved day each and everyday. It is intresting to see that this issue, even greater than one artist letting one dog starve, remains unnoticed and people are able to remain aloof and aloof. In all I really appreciated this story.
wow this post is crappy and contains too many spelling errors and grammar errors, allow me to reiterate my response: I was intrigued by the entire situation;the artists intentions, the public response, and the rumors that circled around the "starving dog". I find it fascinating that upon rumors of a dog being starved and mistreated for the purpose of art people were outraged. I feel there is a pshychology behind this and an interesting one at that. Although it is good to see that humanity still exists, on the other hand, it's interesting to see people get so worked up about this one specific scenario when humans allow cats and dogs to be abandoned and starved day each and everyday. It is intresting to see that this issue, even greater than one artist letting one dog starve, remains unnoticed and people are able to remain aloof and unaffected. In all I really appreciated this story.
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