Wim Delvoye tattoos pigs

Am I too sensitive or is this totally fucked up?

This guy is tattooing pigs. In fact, he’s also skinning them and tanning the skin and mounting it, tattoos intact, and/or stuffing the tattooed pigs.

There’s no artist statement on his site, so I don’t know anything more about it, but it strikes me as unethical work. I’m guessing they either have to restrain the pigs or knock them out to do this. I can’t imagine pigs willingly receiving tattoos. No doubt the artist would argue that the pig doesn’t care once it’s over, but how can you really know that?

And, on some level, it doesn’t really matter. To me, this, on some level, trivializes the existence of living creatures. As you know if you’ve been reading here a while, I see the reflection of God on everything that has life in it. I am not too crazy about hurting anything in the animal kingdom and I’d really prefer to protect as many plants as possible while we’re at it.

I’ve always been the first to argue for the freedom of artistic expression, but I draw the line when artistic impression hurts another living thing or treats creatures of God with disrespect.

So, this guy is really talented. His painted buzzsaw blades are both intriguing and beautiful and his photoshopped notes-on-mountains are inspired.

I can’t get into the tattooed pigs, tho. I like it when art raises tough questions for our ethical system. I’m not so crazy about it when the making of the actual work violates a basic ethic of respect for life.