Starving Dog as Art - Analysis

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NO ONE has challenged the authenticity of the preceding photographs, which do appear to show a malnourished dog tethered in the corner of an art gallery with numerous observers milling about. The "installation" by Costa Rican artist Guillermo Vargas (aka "Habacuc" or "Habakkuk") was part of an August 2007 exhibition at the Galeria Codice (Codice Gallery) in Managua, Nicaragua.

According to a description of the work on the website Artinfo.com, the artist also used dog biscuits to spell out the words "Eres lo que lees" ("You are what you read") on a nearby wall while playing the Sandinista anthem backwards and burning 175 pieces of crack cocaine in an incense burner.

In interviews, Vargas has said his inspiration came from a video about an indigent crack addict named Natividad Canda who received no help from authorities when he was attacked and killed by guard dogs while trespassing on private property in Costa Rica. People who viewed the video were disgusted, Vargas says, and he aimed to provoke the same reaction in those who viewed his artwork. At that he was successful.

Conflicting versions of events

It would be fair to ask, "Is it art?" — but we'll leave that to the experts and dwell instead on the factual questions surrounding what really happened to Natividad Canda's namesake, the stray dog Vargas allegedly tortured and starved to death last year in the Galeria Codice. There are conflicting versions of events.

The popular account, which has spurred over a million people to sign online petitions protesting Vargas' planned inclusion in the Central American Biennial in Honduras, is that the dog was constantly tethered, went unfed, and ultimately died over the course of several days. But according to Galeria Codice director Juanita Bermúdez this did not happen. "It was untied all the time except for the three hours the exhibition lasted, and it was fed regularly with dog food Habacuc himself brought in," she was quoted as saying in the March 30, 2008 issue of the Observer. The dog escaped the next day and was not seen again, says Bermúdez.

Artist refuses to deny accusations

That account has met with skepticism because the artist himself refuses to confirm or deny it, however, insisting he wants to "retain the doubt" about what actually happened. In fact, Vargas seems pleased with the international uproar he has caused, claiming he intended all along to use the media to reach a larger audience with his message. At the same time he warns observers not to take for granted that everything they have seen or read about the exhibit is true."I think the immediate reaction is to believe what it says in the petition," he said in a Spanish-language interview published on Yahoo. "But the human eye is treacherous." He went on to chastise the petitioners for "sitting in front of computers" and not investigating further.

Which is a disingenuous complaint, given his own coy refusal to deny that he did just what he is accused of doing. He has gone so far, in fact, as to claim the opposite: "Natividad Canda died," he stated matter-of-factly in another interview. "The media were complicit in this."

The human eye may indeed be treacherous, but no more so than the obfuscations of the ambitious artist.

'Habucuc' won't be excluded from Biennial

At last report Guillermo "Habacuc" Vargas is still slated to exhibit at the Central American Biennial in Honduras, though the specifics of his work have not yet been made public. "Even I do not know," he said during the Yahoo interview in March. "I am working on some ideas."

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Sources and further reading:

Alleged Animal Abuse Sparks Outrage Over Artist
Artinfo.com, 31 March 2008

Outrage at 'Starvation' of a Stray Dog for Art
Observer (U.K.), 30 March 2008

Statement of Juanita Bermúdez, Director of Codice Gallery
Soitu.es (Eng. translation), 13 March 2008 (in Spanish)

The Human Eye Is Treacherous - Interview with Guillermo Vargas Jimenez
Yahoo News (Eng. translation), 26 March 2008 (in Spanish)

The Starving Dog Exhibition Controversy
About.com: Art History, 20 April 2008

Last updated: 04/22/08

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