Warning: This is NOT pretty.

[rosdubh]

There is an "artist" who has exhibited the death of a starving dog (he tied it to a rope in a gallery and gallery visitors watched it slowly starve to death over days) as his masterpiece.

Warning the link below has pictures and is not pretty.

It does ,however, also include a petition to encourage other galleries (this is occurring outside the U.S.)

Comments

[spooktress]

I went looking at snopes.com, and a few other sites known for debunking or verifying the stuff that flies across the internet.

I can't find a single verification of this. What I DID find was that the artist in question brought in a stray dog for the purpose of pointing out that, in the name of fashionable art, people were paying attention to a dog they would otherwise ignore, shun, or shoo.

The museum director claims the dog was well-fed and taken care of while he was part of the exhibit... y'know, other than being pulled off the street and tied to a wall for people to gawk at. The director also stated that the dog did not starve to death, but in fact escaped after a day or two (I can't remember which). Apparently it was a case of "street-savvy dog vs. rope." Eventually, the dog won.

I'll be among the first to get up in arms about cruelty to animals, but I'm going to forgo my usual PETA spiel right now for the sake of maintaining rational discussion on this. I'll just say that I'm opposed to this exhibit despite the information additional research has turned up, and leave it at that.

All vehemence aside, it looks like another internet embellishment. If I find any corroborating evidence to the story, I'll be the first out there with a chainsaw. Or at least, part of the first wave. But as it is, I can't seem to find any reliable sources that have been able to corroborate this story. All information on this "story" seems to indicate that the account of the exhibit circulating through blogs, spam mail, etc. is mostly fabrication.

[the_chimp_pimp]

If it's true, I'd personally like to put two or three bullets in the head of the maggot responsible for this filth.

I thought I had seen disgusting. This makes me want puke.

[rosdubh]

I went looking at snopes.com, and a few other sites known for debunking or verifying the stuff that flies across the internet.

Ah, I hadn't bothered to look. You may have noticed I'm not one normally to post things like or cause hysteria for hysteria's sake.
However, the person who sent it to me is an artist herself and immersed in the world so I thought she'd gotten wind of through legit sorts...
and considering the pictures I thought it was fairly so.

Though I /suppose/ it is certainly quite a few degrees less disgusting if the dog was already starving...

still lovely? Not so much.

but I'm going to forgo my usual PETA spiel right now for the sake of maintaining rational discussion on this

Rational discussion is good. *nods*

Were you able to turn up anything regarding the upcoming art exhibit?
If not, think I'll start doing some research myself.
It pretty much ruined my night to read this (my version not yours) so I'd like to know...

[northernminx]

Wouldn't someone have actually...called the police to check it out?

Hrm.

I'm still disgusted.

[rosdubh]

Well it was in Central America.
Their laws are a bit...different than ours regarding
animal cruelty which is why I believed it was possible.

And yeah, even given the idea that it may have been fed?
It's still kinda stomach turning though I guess maybe
slightly more thought provoking than just...cruel.

[ketachan]

No you are correct. The dog starving has become an internet myth.
I remember this exhibit when it first happened, almost a year ago now if I remember correctly. It freaked me out, so I read the whole article and did a bunch of info search. The dog was taken off the street already starved, hungry, infested with fleas, and without shots. As the story goes, and I read this in an art magazine, the dog was given food, water, and vaccines, as the artist stated” For her days of work”; fed in the morning and at night. Apparently he was trying to raise awareness about the problem with animal cruelty, the rampant problem of animal starvation, and over population. The dog was going to be adopted out but she escaped before the exhibits close.
I’m not the biggest fan of this guys work, though its better then the poop that was displayed in New York. His whole goal is to piss people off. Pissed off people are more inclined to take action. Also I remember another of his exhibits where people volunteered to sit in huge metal cages and bake in the sun… he does lots of odd things like this.