In August of 2007, a Nicaraguan self-taught artist known as Guillermo Vargas displayed an exhibit in the Códice Gallery in Managua, Nicaragua.
What was so huge about this exhibit, you ask?
If you are unaware of the situation in Nicaragua, it is similar to that of England's. Just as England has many stray cats, Nicaragua has even more stray dogs. The population of these street dogs is rising. The reason this exhibit was created was to scare the people who walk by these starving animals, not feeding them, ignoring their hunger. Vargas was also intending to link this exhibit with an incident that happened in Costa Rica where a man called Natividad Canda Mayrena who was mauled to death by dogs while the public and police stood back.
The exhibit involved a tied up street dog named Nativity snatched up by a paid group of children in the area. Across from Nativity, on the wall spelled out with dog food was the Spanish phrase, "Eres Lo Que Lees" (You Are What You Read). This simplistic gallery exhibit caused an outrage all across the internet, but this was just the beginning.
Nativity, the tied up starving dog was very often not approached by art critics. Not many people came into the exhibit and fed the dog. Angry yet? Get ready, here is the bomb drop...
Months later after the exhibit opened, Vargas (the artist) said that Nativity had died in the artwork. Vargas convinced the gallery visitors that they had killed Nativity because they neglected to pay attention to the dogs health, and rather focused on the art as a whole. Very soon Vargas was hit with responses on the internet asking him how he could capture a dog and refuse to feed an animal for the sake of art.
Animal control, PETA and all other animal activists were ready to hop on a plane to have a long talk with Vargas. The news claimed that the artist intended for the dog to starve to death. A petition was created, signed by almost four million people who demanded Vargas be put in jail. People wanted the artist to be boycotted.
The interesting part is that Vargas, himself, signed the petition.
Before you hunt Vargas down, he actually did feed Nativity after hours, giving him a bed to sleep in, however, that information was not released for a while. Why did Vargas do this?
In an interview, he stated that the dog died in the artwork. This clearly gave the impression to many that the dog had been starved to death. However, the dog had actually been able to escape from the gallery, and Vargas had never said that the dog had died in real life. This brings a totally new perception to the statement “you are what you read”, because mass media is able to manipulate us and form our opinions, so in a way it really defines who we are and how we act. (Source)
The reason why I bring up this event from 2007 is because as a society we still think as we did almost 10 years ago. When something is happening on the news, we are adjusting our attitudes based on what we hear. It all makes sense now doesn't it? We are what we read. Vargas' approach to such a topic was a tad bit extreme, but he sure did make his point. With all of the talk of who will be the president elected, this is an important event to remember. Be careful how you interpret the news media and start really looking, instead of glancing when you walk down the street. It's easy to get lost in everyday life and miss something.
Thank you for reading!
* Shoutout to my modern art teacher who showed us this artist! *
