zh3ng
Senior Member
what chiu all think of this? saw it on news yesterday.
poor butterfriess
When ClubSnap was down in the last week a protest by nature lovers to an installation art exhibited call "Bon Appetit" at Singapore Art Museum took place , which culminated in a news coverage of the controversy by CNA, CH 8 and CH u on the nite of 06/04/2010 .
This an update to ClubSnap Macro Setion on what transpired. The offending piece.
The relevant pages of these can be view at ButterflyCircle Blog feature article "" Murder in the name of art ""and its forum thread
and CNA online thread: Butterfly installation at Singapore Art Museum sparks dispute
The essence of Nature lovers' complaint collected from NaturePixel, NPSS and ButterflyCircle and its blog are collated for the TV media coverage and scripted for the interview , it is attached here for your information and perusal.
The artist says he wants to show how helpless and vulnerable the victims of social unbalance and the struggle of the powerful and powerless in society are through the exhibits.
In the process, he has created an irony here. This he does, by being just as brutal as the situation he wants to portray negatively by directly or indirectly killing these helpless butterfly specimen. For all intents and purposes, he has lost his right to judge, as he has become the perpetrator of the social unbalance and power struggle he try to condemn.
It is likely that the artist and museum will now claim that these are already naturally dead specimen when they were selected for the mounting, perhaps as an afterthought as there were no caption on the exhibit nor the brochure proclaiming them as such prior to the public voicing their disapproval.
However ,The pristine condition and posture of the 100 or so butterflies mounted suggested otherwise. Butterfly die of old age naturally do not do so with their wing open uniformly and are normally tattered and torn. It is more probable that these are selected pristine specimen , killed and mounted in the posture the artist deem them to be artistic.
It's a sad and disgusting act. Having to sacrifice them in order for the artist to portrait his inner thoughts to an audience who are then force to perceive this kind of work to be Art. Many Nature lover do not see art in such exhibit instead it convey the message of the insensitive killing and displaying of these beautiful dead creatures as an artistic piece.
where do we draw the line??? Are we to condone killing in the name of Art? To me and other nature lovers, no harmless creature big or small should die for art, no matter how important a message the artist might want to convey.
More pertinently : How are we supposed to embrace, support and educate our people in biodiversity conservation when these exhibits suggested the intentional or indirect murder of these beautiful insects, and then presented/ condone as an exhibit in the name of art?
No matter where these butterfly and bees are sourced from and how humane these creatures are put to their death by the artist directly or indirectly . It surely doesn't bring across the right message to the audiences especially the young ones about nature conservation , other than that man is at liberty to kill for his artistic expression and enjoyment .
I am having a hard time explaining to my 4 year old grandson who loves butterfly, that though butterflies cannot be eaten, but it is necessary to kill and display them on a dining table so that some artistic message can wake us up and educate us on the social ill of this world.
I do think that some soul searching is required in showcasing this form of art in our Museum, in what does it convey to the general public ? That it is ok to sacrifice lives of living creatures, as long as it is under the name of art?
Further , how does such exhibitions reinforces the education of Singaporean on loving nature and what message it convey to the world on Singapore as a strong advocate for biodiversity conservation ?
we deem these exhibits to be disgusting and it undermines Singapore's biodiversity conservation effort and the nature caring image Singapore is trying to project to the world at large.
poor butterfriess
