taking lives

One of the performance art pieces I saw last night generated a lot of discussion.  It involved a girl in a singlet and undies in a large cage with a wire bed with no mattress.  There was also a white bed pan.  She sat on the floor and tore chicken fillets apart with her teeth.  Piece by piece.  Aside from the general concern about whether she would get sick or not, I found it offensive that meat was being used in this way.  While art is important I don’t think an animal’s life should be taken lightly.  A chicken died for her art and the meat would be too old after the performance to be eaten by anyone.  I am not a vegetarian but I try to respect the lives as much as possible.  I seem to need to eat meat.  A friend of mine does a type of religious observance before every meal that contains meat and stops for a moment to thank the creature for giving its life.

I think there needs to be more of that.

Was that the point of the art?  It was for me.

free zoo animals

On our trip to the Prom I was thinking about the animals we saw.  I found it so much easier to see them in the wild.  I am uncomfortable with zoos.  Trapping animals in a small pen, usually in weather they are not accustomed to, being surrounded by people trying to get their attention with no way out is cruel.  It is simply putting the animals on show with little regard for their welfare.  Some of the animals let you know this – like the apes who throw their poo at gaping visitors.  I know the pens are getting in a more natural style, which is a start, but it just isn’t fair on the creatures.  The ‘natural’ enclosures have glass walls for the visitors to stare through.  At least these enclosures have more places for the animal to hide.  I guess on the bright side they help with breeding programs because of the devastation of natural habitats.  But do breeding programs need tourists?  I know not many people can afford to go into the wilds of Africa to see the wildlife but small concrete pens that the animals can circle in all weather year in year out is not on.  It is a jail.

I went to a party a while ago and met someone who had been to the zoo for the first time.  She said it was weird.  The animals are freaks of nature.  They have weird eyes, weird ears, and some had fur and tails.  She was freaked out.  That was pretty funny.