Morgan BellHabacuc: the art of starving dogs?
November 23rd 2008 17:31
Guillermo Habacuc Vargas is a Costa Rican artist who caused a worldwide controversy when he displayed an emaciated stray dog, named Natividad, as part of his August 2007 exhibit in Managua, Nicaragua.
The starving dog element of the art exhibition prompted widespread uproar, petitions, forwarded emails, blogs, and even Facebook groups.
Critics claim that the artist "starved and killed" the dog as performance art.
Examples of outraged claims:
However the Director of Gallery Codex, where the exhibit was held, Juanita Bermudez, issued a statement saying the dog, Natividad, was only on display for the three hours of the show and was properly fed and cared for up until the time it escaped.
‘It was untied all the time except for the three hours the exhibition lasted and it was fed regularly with dog food [Vargas] himself brought in.’”
Habacuc’s exhibition included a legend spelled out in dog food reading “You are what you read,” in Spanish ("Eres Lo Que Lees"), photos, and an incense burner that burned an ounce of marijauna and 175 “rocks’ of crack cocaine.
In the background, the Sandista national anthem played backwards.
The name of the exhibit was "Exposición N° 1"
According to the artist, the exposition was a tribute to Natividad Canda, a Nicaraguan burglar killed in Costa Rica by two rottweilers guarding property he had entered at night. The incident caused friction between the two countries.
Habacuc told the daily La Nacion:
“I won’t say the dog died. The importance to me is the hypocracy of the people where an animal is the focus of attention where people come to see art but not when it’s in the street starving to death.”
“The same thing happened with poor Natividad Canda. The people sympathized with him only after he was dead,”
In another statement Habacuc said:
"The purpose of the work was not to cause any type of infliction on the poor, innocent creature, but rather to illustrate a point. In my home city of San Jose, Costa Rica, tens of thousands of stray dogs starve and die of illness each year in the streets and no one pays them a second thought."
"Now, if you publicly display one of these starving creatures, such as the case with Nativity, it creates a backlash that brings out a big of hypocrisy in all of us. Nativity was a very sick creature and would have died in the streets anyway."
PETA investigated the incident with inconslusive results but in their statement they said:
"there’s reason to believe that this may have been a stunt, and that some parts of this story (such as the starving of the dog) were actually fabricated for the sake of publicity"
Guillermo Habacuc Vargas was chosen as one of six representatives from Costa Rica to present at the Bienal Centroamericana Honduras in November, 2008
The starving dog element of the art exhibition prompted widespread uproar, petitions, forwarded emails, blogs, and even Facebook groups.
Critics claim that the artist "starved and killed" the dog as performance art.
Examples of outraged claims:
"He then chained the dog and used the dog as “art”. He told everyone not to feed this dog. The dog died in the gallery. He calls himself an artist. I call him an animal abuser."
"He tied the dog, according to furious animal lovers, in a corner of the salon where it died."
However the Director of Gallery Codex, where the exhibit was held, Juanita Bermudez, issued a statement saying the dog, Natividad, was only on display for the three hours of the show and was properly fed and cared for up until the time it escaped.
‘It was untied all the time except for the three hours the exhibition lasted and it was fed regularly with dog food [Vargas] himself brought in.’”
Habacuc’s exhibition included a legend spelled out in dog food reading “You are what you read,” in Spanish ("Eres Lo Que Lees"), photos, and an incense burner that burned an ounce of marijauna and 175 “rocks’ of crack cocaine.
In the background, the Sandista national anthem played backwards.
The name of the exhibit was "Exposición N° 1"
According to the artist, the exposition was a tribute to Natividad Canda, a Nicaraguan burglar killed in Costa Rica by two rottweilers guarding property he had entered at night. The incident caused friction between the two countries.
Habacuc told the daily La Nacion:
“I won’t say the dog died. The importance to me is the hypocracy of the people where an animal is the focus of attention where people come to see art but not when it’s in the street starving to death.”
“The same thing happened with poor Natividad Canda. The people sympathized with him only after he was dead,”
In another statement Habacuc said:
"The purpose of the work was not to cause any type of infliction on the poor, innocent creature, but rather to illustrate a point. In my home city of San Jose, Costa Rica, tens of thousands of stray dogs starve and die of illness each year in the streets and no one pays them a second thought."
"Now, if you publicly display one of these starving creatures, such as the case with Nativity, it creates a backlash that brings out a big of hypocrisy in all of us. Nativity was a very sick creature and would have died in the streets anyway."
PETA investigated the incident with inconslusive results but in their statement they said:
"there’s reason to believe that this may have been a stunt, and that some parts of this story (such as the starving of the dog) were actually fabricated for the sake of publicity"
Guillermo Habacuc Vargas was chosen as one of six representatives from Costa Rica to present at the Bienal Centroamericana Honduras in November, 2008
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Comment by Norm
Consumption Malfunction
Equal and Opposite
Arses and Elbows
Footy Power
One of the reasons I'm reluctant to join any groups is because if I'm going to get the wrong end of the stick I want it to be in my hands.
Comment by Norm
Consumption Malfunction
Equal and Opposite
Arses and Elbows
Footy Power
Comment by Morgan Bell
Deep Pencil
Business News
Movie Train
i thought you might find this one interesting!
you know people, they like getting up in arms about things, esp the arts . . . there seems to be misconception about artists, that they are all soulless and unethical . . . i think its because people are uncomfortable when an artist holds up a mirror to questionable things that happen in the real world, perhaps?
when an artist documents and presents an effect they are often (and easily) mistaken as being the cause
apart from the misinformation the work seems to have actually raised some useful discourse about the use of live animals in art in general
thanks for stopping by!