Photos courtesy of http://www.wimdelvoye.be/

It’s always been my contention that art should be dangerous, or at least incite. Many would confuse that statement with shocking. By incite, I mean jolting, forcing viewers out of the numbed comma most wander around in. I guess shocking would be a better word, if shocking didn’t already have the connotations of being a cop out. There is no room left for safe art, basic warm fuzzy ascetics just don’t count, you have to get the viewer thinking, debating. You have to force them out of their complacency to do this.

Now all pet lovers grip your seats because I’m going to talk about one of PETA’s most wanted; Belgian artist Wim Delvoye and his tattooed pigs. Delvoye started tattooing pig skins in the early 90’s, then decided to move on to tattooing live pigs. The “Art Farm” was started by him in China where there were no pesky animal rights laws or protesters and he began working on his “living art investment.” Raising the pigs, tattooing them through their lives as the skin stretched and grew. Art buyers can purchase the pigs as breathing art, slaughter them and stretch the hide or taxidermy them as a sculpture. This work sparks a severe reaction in everyone. The list of issues and debates the Art Farm provokes/sparks/jolts/incites/shocks people into is so long that I won’t even get into it. Regardless of whether or not you think he is a genius or a criminal, Delvoye has made you think. At least for a second.

The Art Farm is just a tiny fraction of this modern masters work, be sure to check out his site

-R.E. Brown
Swellco & Swellco 64312b

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