Is stroking a dead pig naked art?

Question

This is what someone did recently and i am not sure if i think it is

Answer 1

If it's in an art gallery then it's gotta be art. These people know what they're doing.
incidentally, the "artist" in question said that the work left her with an undercurrent of pigginess.

Answer 2

I'm assuming this is a reference to the Newlyn Art Gallery performance which PETA objected to?

I think that it's a pretty insensitive performance piece. But then again, art is meant to provoke, to have impact, and quite often is found to be offensive to some. Are the dead pigs in this performance being any more exploited than the shark in Damien Hirsts tank of formaldehide was? (I think I read somewhere that the shark is now rotting?) Did PETA object when Damien Hirst used a dead Shark in his art? I genuinely don't know.

Perhaps, what's significant is that this performance is taking place during the 'summer silly season' when parliament is in recess and the newspapers traditionally (though not this year) have little to write about other than who's more objectionable than the rest in Big Brother and so they are more sensitive to what's going on in the provinces than they normally are. After all, when was the last time an Art performance in Cornwall made the news? Possibly, Live8 at Eden? Over a year ago?

I think the performer is questionable in her taste and judgement, and was quite likely knowledgeable of the fact that her performance was liable to offend some people ahead of planning it. But then again, don't all forms of art have the ability to offend some? Jerry Springer the Opera offends some Christians, but that's not a reason to ban that particular opera in my opinion. The Laramie Project (the play about the death of Matthew Sheppard) similarly offends some Christians. Again, in my opinion, that's not a reason to ban the Laramie Project from being performed. If anything it's surely a reason to question the irony of why certain Christians would protest against a play based upon real life events depicting a character who was strung up and left for dead on a cross?

The performance of a 'dance with pig' in Newlyn has sparked debate in the national newspapers and for that alone it probably constitutes performance art in that it has courted controversy, has provoked, and has created a reaction. That does not however justify it's occurence.

Answer 3

I don't know this one, but it is art if you can get enough people to agree it's art. Whether it is worthwhile I don't know, but I do know you couldn't hang it in the living room.

I feel there is too much dead stuff around. Who started it? I think it might have been Yoko Ono and the Apple. I think that there is a lot of imitation going on.

Just remembered that I saw a woman with a handbag made of a dead pig. Is that the one? I didn't think it was art, she was just trying to be noticed, but not succeeding because we only noticed the pig, poor thing. Only the pig was naked though.

Answer 4

I read that some student shat on the steps of the Tate gallery and wrote "ART" beneath it.
and a fish tank full of p!ss with a dead sheep in it???
what a load of crap, I suppose those crazy Muslims that did 911 could call it f*cking art and get an award for it.
if art students were randomly drug tested this "ART" shite would clear up over night.
if this pig stroking incident was on a porn site it would be called bestiality and charges would be brought.
is it any wonder people hate students.

Answer 5

Not in my opinion but neither was half a cow suspended in Formaldehyde or a pile of bricks but hey the "artist" stroking the dead pig has nice **** LOL.

Answer 6

yes, for two reasons. first, art is not a thing that exists objectively in the world like sand, it is a type of thinking and communicating. If someone finds meaning in a pile of sand, who are you (or I) to tell them that it is invalid? Second, people have been getting their panties in a bunch wondering about what constitutes "art" about as long as they have been complaining that music is too loud. Who cares? either it talks to you or it doesn't.

Answer 7

The pig's name is Art?

Answer 8

No - art should be art. If you look at it in 100 years will that be Art?

Answer 9

People do a lot of stupid, disgusting things and pin the name "art" on it but that doesn't make it art.

Answer 10

"There is a difference, you know, between a big piece of art with a little sh*t in the middle and a big piece of sh*t with a little art in the middle. One is a big piece of art and the other is a big piece of sh*t." (Lenny Bruce.)