For the live art performance 'Tragedy', a group of dogs are made to lie atop rugs, playing dead for a short duration before a trainer signals them to leave. While the dogs are neither dead nor seem distressed, many on social media believe this is animal abuse. Artist Nina Beier said that show is meant to highlight how humans attempt to 'master' the natural world.
ALEX GREENBERGER: A Nina Beier performance featuring live dogs was met with allegations of animal abuse… after footage of it went viral on social media. The piece, titled Tragedy (2011), was staged as part of a Beier show at the Museo Tamayo, one of the top art museums in Mexico City.
For the performance, a group of dogs lie atop rugs, playing dead for a short duration before a trainer signals them to leave. While the dogs are neither dead nor distressed, the animals appear that way because the trainer blends in with the crowd…
Mexican politicians even ended up decrying the work. “As an animal lover, I join in condemning these events,” wrote Mexico City governor Martí Bartres. He encouraged the PAOT, a group that oversees environmental rights in Mexico, to launch an investigation…
The museum issued a follow-up statement in which it said that it would comply with the PAOT investigation and that the performance would not be staged again during the run of Beier’s show. Museo Tamayo director Magali Arriola and Beier issued a statement on Saturday in which they condemned animal abuse and said that Tragedy in no way promoted it.
Noting that the Museo Tamayo is the “only museum in Mexico City that has an equal relationship with its dog community,” since outside dogs are periodically allowed to enter with their owners, Arriola and Beier said that Tragedy and other works in the show were meant to highlight how humans attempt to “master” the natural world. “At the Tamayo Museum, dogs are part of the community of visitors and participants and are treated with dignity and respect,” they wrote. SOURCE…
RELATED VIDEO: