Lil Orphan Hammies
By leona chen and Pig(s)

Started on: 04/21/09 21:29:37
Medium: Visual

The trip to Lil Orphan Hammies exceeded my expectations. I am currently at the library and I don't have my camera with me so I can't post pictures till later. This trip was a great experience because I did not think the pigs were as personable as they were in real life. During the time spent there, I was thinking a lot about these pigs but more so the history behind each pig's story. It saddens me to know that all these pigs were once pets and now are unwanted orphans. Which lead me to express how that upsets me because I have grown in a home where you take full responsibility of an animal once you have accepted it as your own. I personally have experienced the same situation with an animal growing bigger than it was "supposed" to. My family received a little tortoise as a gift. Little did we know this small tortoise ended up growing to be 150 pounds within 4 years. We have attended many tortoise conventions and met many tortoise owners/experts who say that these tortoises often are abandoned by owners who cannot accommodate or take care a tortoise of that size. They are usually thrown in the desert or mountains, within a few days they die because of their lack of adaption to the wild. Regardless of our tortoise's high maintenance, we continue to love and care for it because it is a living being that relies on us for its survival. It angers me that these people who have abandoned these pigs can so carelessly get "rid" of them. For some reason, when I was spending time with the pigs, I could see the pain in their eyes. Most of them, old in age, have a very slim chance of finding a new adopter. There was so many of them, and the lady who watched over them could only give so much attention to all the pigs. I decided to dedicate some poems in honor of these pigs because being with them brought inspiration to me.

I stay here with the sun beating down.
Sometimes wondering why past owners left me here to drown.
With no hope of prospected caregivers,
It’s a shame that we all lay alone by the rivers.
Questioning why my worth wasn't enough,
But I now understand I need to get tough.
In a world, where humans comes first before animals,
We are constantly scrutinized before a judge and panels.
Often we need a voice for the unheard,
But asking for that savior is absurd.
So we continue to exist & ask for coexistence.
In the end, there is no use of resistance.



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Project Updates
04/21/09 21:36:34 - forgot to put in

PS the poem was written by me

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Comment by Ash (04/22/09 18:56:13):
I like the close-up of the eye. You get that sense of emotion and a better connection with the animal and don't see the animal as a old, tired, dumb animal but as something more.

05/12/09 20:43:07 - pig beats

My boyfriend is a DJ and music producer. I was thinking of making another trip back to the Pig Orphan. I wanted to record the noises they make and maybe recreate them into different beats through a music producing software on the computer. I haven't mentioned it to my boyfriend but I know he would be willing to help me out. I'm thinking I could do duets with individuals pigs and maybe tie in all their performances to make one big collaborative piece of music with all the pigs. I have been reading "The Man Who Talks to Whales" and I think it is extremely interesting how he makes music with the different animals. I'm hoping maybe through his own studies and experiences I can use it to help my process of making music with the pigs.

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05/19/09 11:16:00 - Update

Ashley:
Thanks, that was exactly what I wanted to convey in my pictures.

I decided to continue this project and present it in the exhibition. During my stay at the pig farm, I would say short rhyming phrases. The pigs would react to it differently, I didn't think anything of it when it happened but now I realized it was a collaboration between me and the pigs. They inspired me to make these poems, and I recited it to them. I am thinking of making this into performance piece of me reciting the poem with a projector in the background playing my recorded footage of the pigs oinking.

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