Response to Artist Animal and Bees Making Art By Brianna Acuesta (05/18/14 18:01:09)
Artist Animal:
Baker does seem to defend Jones a bit in terms of the Rat Piece because he constantly offers quotes from Jones that state that the audience could have done something about the situation and they didn’t. He also says that, although many may think that what he did was just refuse responsibility for saving the rats, it was just his way of expressing a reality that many people have never had to experience before. This reality is not just that rats have been historically burned alive because the rats are actually meant to be allegorical representations of the U.S. soldiers in Vietnam and those civilians. Furthermore, he notes that several other critics remarked on the audience’s lack of intervention as a key role in the success of the piece. Though these points seem to be defending or, at the very least, remaining objective about the piece, Baker’s main concern is that critics becomes aware of universal terminologies and perspectives rather than jumping to conclusions and stating their own opinion.
Is it ethical to use animals in science/food? I think the difference is that the individual artist has a choice to use the animal, and it could be a choice to send a message about the use of animals in science and food. With those other ways of using animals, a majority of people think it’s humane or necessary to use them. It’s all about the choice: artists don’t have to use animals inhumanely in their artwork, however they choose to and people, even those who use products tested on animals and eat meat, can’t handle it. I certainly can’t handle it, however I tend to also stray from eating any meat or using animal-tested products. I do not think it is impossible to ask the question of whether to use them in art exclusively, because the fact of the matter remains that art is not dependent on treating animals inhumanely. In science, it has become unnecessary to test on animals; however the alternatives are more expensive and could be less reliable, causing many companies to resist making the change. As for meat, it’s clear that it revolves around the animal and the only thing that may change with that is whether companies make the switch to better treatment of the living animals. That being said, I don’t believe that we should ever use animals for anything other than as companions if it can be done in a safe way that does not unnerve or stress out the animal. They should not be used for entertainment either.
There are two areas of trust that Baker explores in which he gives opposite approvals of trust. In terms of trusting an artist to work ethically with an animal, which I feel is the primary concern, we cannot trust the artist. When considering whether we can trust the artists motives, forms, and ultimate execution of the artwork, Baker says that we can mostly trust the artist. The perspectives regarding this trust varies widely, but I believe fully that we should not be engaging in any kind of work with animals that is harmful to them or us.
Bees Making Art:
I noticed that the notion of stronger or lesser emotional ties to certain animals was brought up in both texts. In Baker's, he notes that rats were statistically less inclined to gain an emotional reaction to them being burned alive than other animals, such as a dog. In Bees Making Art, the authors raise the point about the death of insects creating less emotional support from humans because we kill them everyday. Furthermore, the type of insect matters because, as mentioned in this text, insects such as bees and butterflies are valued more by humans and taken more into consideration when concerning ethics.
In both texts, there are differences between the way art uses animals in Baker's representation of it and the way that Kosut and Moore talk about the way bees are used in art. The bees are used more naturally and, though the exhibition is manmade, the way the bees add to it is natural for them. This same text uses these examples to raise questions about how humans can incorporate animals safely and naturally into their art. The suggestion is that when we work with animals, we de-center the focus on the artist and instead work to create a collaborative world that exists between the human and the animal. I agree that this is a safer, more humane way to work with animals and I believe that this is the method that I have employed in order to make my collaborative art.
| Artist Animal (Book) |
| Bees Making Art: Insect Aesthetics and the Ecological Moment (Article) |
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