By: Rae Schwarz
You'd think that after all that modern artist have done, nothing would be shocking anymore. After all, we've had Jeff Koons make statues of celebrities giving birth and Damien Hirst slicing up sharks. But one art controversy that has periodically surfaced and resurfaced since the early 1990s is the work of Belgian artist Wim Delvoye and his tattooed pigs.
Delvoye first began tattooing pigs in his native Belgium around 1992, working at the time on the skins of dead pigs. By 1997, he decided to explore the concept further. Thinking of the pigs as living "piggy banks," that is to say as investments, he began to tattoo designs on live pigs. The animals are sedated first, and then shaved and tattooed much as a living human would be to receive a tattoo.
In 2004, Delvoye rented a farm in China, where he wouldn't be hindered by prohibitive animal welfare laws and established his Art Farm project. Pigs are tattooed when they are young and the designs change and grow as the pig grows. Interested art buyers can purchase a pig, although Delvoye has noted that none of them have actually taken their pigs home to live with them. Some buyers have waited until the pigs dies of old age to have the skins turned into art, but others have preferred that the pigs be slaughtered and the skin stretched and framed. Delvoye has also exhibited some of the tattooed pigs as fully stuffed and taxidermied statues, sitting as he puts it "like a stone lion outside a Chinese restaurant." (ArtAsiaPacific, pp. 154-159, 30 September 2007)
In September of 2008, Delvoye was scheduled to have eight of his pigs appear as part of the Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair, but shortly before the exhibition was set to open, officials decided the pigs, tattooed with Disney designs and the Louis Vuitton logo, were in poor taste and the Art Farm exhibit was removed from the event. Delvoye was somewhat disappointed as he had interested buyers coming to China from Europe. The tattooed porcines can fetch as much as £100,00 (approx. $161,560 USD).
I'm amazed by Delvoye's imagination, because well first by thinking about tattooing pigs! And then by really realizing a crazy idea and making it art! Because well we all have thought on crazy stuff like this but at least I would never had imagine that a pig or a pigs skin tattooed would become art!
ResponderEliminarMy favorite tattoo pig was the one full of Louis vuitton's logo! Its so cool! It looks like if the pig was a Louis vuitton hand bag! I've even wonder on a bag made of that pig's tattooed skin.... Wel it's not really a good idea...
But well by the other side I thought on the poor pigs! Because even knowing that when they tattoo them they Sedade the pigs I wounder if the pigs are in pain then.... Because till the point I know about tattoos I know they hurt a few days latter, so imagine the Louis Vuitton piggy with his hole body in pain by the tattoos!!! So that's not really nice Thoe
I must say, I'm not impressed or shock, or anything. Well at the begin I was like "I think that is kinda animal abuse, but after I readed "China" and "sedated" I was relieved. Yeah they are tatoos on pigs, so what, I'm not saying that it isn't art, but if you think about it, they are only tatoos, on pigs, but is there a serious difference?
ResponderEliminarDon't get me wrong, I like tatoos, but I think this isn't such a creative idea, maybe the thing that makes this kind of "awesome" is the fact that are pigs, you know, like is somehow strange and even wrong for someones, maybe is that, or maybe I'm not qualified to know anything about art, whatever, too much noise for some pigs with tatoos.
ok now when I started seeing the images I thought that would come along with some serious protests from animal protective organizations but then I came to the part who said china and I was like yeah why didnt I thought about that, probably one of the only places in the world where people dont worry about rights, nevermind animals rights but peoples so it figures. I also didnt really like this because if we were gonna talk tatopos I find it more controversial and impressing an artistic are the flesh removal tatoos.
ResponderEliminarI also dindt like this because he doesnt even tatoo his own designs but meaningles comercial things as brands and disney pictures, it really impresses me how much people pays for something like these
his imagination is really incredible because thinking in making tatoos in pigs is something kinda of weird because I dont agree with the idea of hurting an animal just for making art and also I like a lot the tatoos but he didnt make his own ideas of tatoos he copy images and logos from another person and use them like his own art..it was just in time that the people stop liking his art..
ResponderEliminarValeria Vazquez
ResponderEliminarI have to say at first sight it's something that it's not that impressive. It's just tattooing a pig, pretty much like tattooing a person (ha ha ha). The paintings are good, but I dont find a concrete style or inspiration appart from the pig as a base to imprint a drawing. in a way i found it cruel
What I think of this type of artist, is that he wants to be original and try to be famous by doing his art. Now if you think of that, he had to figure out a way of being or doing something original, so he came up with the
ResponderEliminar"tatooing pigs idea" and yes it is actually really funny watching the pig´s tatoos but it may cause controversy because of the animals and all that stuff. Although i would never ever buy something like that it is really expensive!!! but he makes money so if that works for him i have no problem!!
yeah and no at the same time i mean by my part i love tattoos but really a tattoo in a pig i mean why stop in pigs its because of it skin the color or what he doesn´t give reasons of why pigs but in the other side i´m like why not we as human like weird things and if you as an artist have like a form of definition of your like tattooing pigs then maybe people like it and ask you to make specific tattoos because the societies are weird but if they were not weird then this will be a very boring place to live
ResponderEliminarI was very shocked at the beginning i thought of it as very funny and actually liked what he did because i would never imagined a pig being tattoed and it really is a picece of art. I think that just for his originallity of the idea buyers would pay many dollars to buy it and i don't get why they closed the art show just before it was published to people. I found it very interesting and funny!
ResponderEliminarThis very funny how people can make look the animals diferent and look cool. i think they work with the pics because the skin is very assy to make a tatoo and for example with the dogs and animals that have hair is more complicated. this artist is very creative and as you know i like alot the people that are creative and use the imagination to create sometin original and that cause that many people atention. to make tatoos in the animals are very atractive. i really like it even though i don`t like the tatoo
ResponderEliminari think these kind of art is very agressive to the little pigs they feel pain and is not good for animals, and if these artist wants to be making tatoos he can work on that or tatto him self but not to do these to inocent pigs, although i find it very funny but in the ethical way these is not good and also is not fair to the pigs
ResponderEliminar@jonathan hernandez
ResponderEliminarso for you if you can make money out of something that is art? cmon for real?
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ResponderEliminar@jaime hernandez
ResponderEliminarthere are another kind of tatoos that are made by removing flesh, I beliave their called scarifications far more shocking than these and there are some designs that are really impressive
In my opinion, it is not very impressive because it is just like a tattoo on a human, he may be smart to use his idea so sell tattoo pigs for a very expensive amount of dollars. also I thought that if the pig is sedated there is no problem but just imagine if it is no sedated, it may be animal abuse.
ResponderEliminar@diego san roman
ResponderEliminarin part the pigs are sedated so they don't feel when they put a tattoo on it, but for the other part you are right, why with pigs? I don't see the difference, it is the use of same colors and same process of a normal tattoo on a human.
@david negrete
ResponderEliminarI agree with you because I like tattoos but to tattoo a pig it isn't a creative idea.
...When you think about tatoos you anly think: a person, a common human, with something in his/her skin, something permanent made by ink. This man make something completely creative and new because who culd think in tatoos wth pigs. But for me he's not thinking about the pigs because obviously when a human have a tatoo it hurts and I think that they also hut the pigs and for no reason. When he do it in the skin of the pig but when is already dead I think that the pig doesn't suffer much but when is alive I can't imagine hearing them while they are tattooing them. Art? for me yes because it's something new that people recognize it but I think that a little bit hurtin for them
ResponderEliminarok first: YEAH SCARIFICATION IS REALLY GREAT!!!!
ResponderEliminarSecond: ok poor pigs, yet bullfighting is also an art that affects animals...but as it is funny and interacting with us humans it is "a real art"?
Third: Yes..something that make money can be art.
Last: why don't you look for other works of the author, you will see why is he doing so.
on scarifitacion: http://www.scarabbodyarts.com/scarification.nxg
ResponderEliminarI dont really think its something great, because when a person is tatooed is because they want to be tatooded and whats tatooed on them is something they like, etc., and of course, pigs cant say anything.
ResponderEliminarIts a great idea because its not tatooing people, but its the same concept, and they´re not even new designs, they´re from dysney, etc, I think he could at least represent other things.
I just dont like it when animals are used for this things, because they cant defend themselves, or say what they think about it.
Well , the tattos i think that is really good art , but the tattos are bad to our body that is why we dont born with it , it can cause any desease , and the people that wants one , now anda accepts all the risks , but an animal? you only fource him to do it , because YOU want it , for me that is very sell fish of his part , because he is only thinking about his benefits , and if you wnat tahat type of art in animal,s i willl prefear taht the were dead because with thata reason is yjust a body , that dont fells
ResponderEliminarwell I think it´s meaningless to tatoo a pig, I mean, for my understanding there are a lot of other ways to represent your art, and there must be things that no one has yet, if you are aiming for originality. I think that modern art can be great and interesting, and raelly stupid some times
ResponderEliminarI've never liked tattoos and this is not the exception and also I don't share the idea of the suffering of this creatures that can't fight for themselves against this abuse. Well now that I expressed how I feel about tattooing this poor animals I'm going to say why I don't like tattoos, I think that the body was made this way and only this way, I'm not against someone who has a tattoo but I wouldn't get a tattoo myself. I like the designs of the tattoos very commercial but that's what people want. That' th whole point but if h wantd too much to do this why didn't he tattoo this on himself instead of doing it on th pigs
ResponderEliminar@Claudia Rodríguez
ResponderEliminarTatoos are awesome!!!! and the animals don't suffer, because they are sedated. Also I think sometimes we exagerate the "humanist" part of animals, yeah, it is weird to use animals, but if we think about it, the animals doesn't suffer or are damage, they are animals, I mean, they are in a farm, the animals are objets of production, so don't use the animals as a factor.
@Gerardo Alvarez
ResponderEliminarTotally agree, this is just pigs with tatoos, yeah, art, yeah, expensive...special?, I don't think so
@david negrete, gerardo alvarez
ResponderEliminaryou do realize that even when sedated during the process the area of the body that is tatood is severely hurt and it will hurt for days, maybe even a week after the process is done?? the sedativee isnt for the wellbeing of the pigs its for the commodity of the "artist" as the pig wont just stay still waiting for him to finish
@jaime hernandez
ResponderEliminarI disagree, if it sells it aint necesarily art it is a product van gohg didnt sell until past his dead but that doesnt mean it wasnt art contrary to this that does sell but doesnt necesary needs to be art, at least thats my opinion
@ fernanda guerrero
ResponderEliminara tatoo doesnt give you diseases, its the needle thats used wich can carry diseases, you could have the same risk by going to donate blood at a poorly managed clinic
Ok I really like the tatoos that the artist makes the designs are wonderful, but I dont like the idea about to make a tatoo to an animal, I dont find a sense and I dont like the idea because is just a poor animal as Carlos said with the days still hurting the body with the tatoo so all the body of the animal it will be hurt. So maybe if he make his art in humans (humans have the decision about what they do to his body) I would be really admired with his art.
ResponderEliminarThis is very interesting, i thing that tattoos are art andthat you axpres something in taht tattoo, all most all tattoos have a mening. In this case i dont think is righ, poor pigs, and i dont see the Message. I dont like what that guy put on the pigs its not preaty and the pigs looke bad, its something tht doesnt go with them.
ResponderEliminarI DONT LIKE THIS MODERN ART, i thing its fake for the pigs nature
@Diego San Roman
ResponderEliminarI agree that bulls can defend them self, and that in this case they are abusing of the pigs just to do some stupid modern art.
@Profe Jaime
ResponderEliminarI think bull fighting is more an art than this, because thet give an opertunity to the bull to fight, and in this case they dont so the Profe abuse of the pigs.
I'm not a fan of tattoos although I like some of them but others are like WF. Some people tattoo themselfs for pleasure, traditions, etc. If tattos doesn't fit to some people neither to pigs!!! And making art by tatto a pig is not like the best way to promote Art. So this kind of modern art is not of my taste
ResponderEliminarI'm not a fan of tattoos although I like some of them but others are like WF. Some people tattoo themselfs for pleasure, traditions, etc. If tattos doesn't fit to some people neither to pigs!!! And making art by tatto a pig is not like the best way to promote Art. So this kind of modern art is not of my taste
ResponderEliminarOk, so... i know this is called 'art' and all that stuff but hurting an animal that ALSO HAS feelings it's just not right, i mean first of all I don't like tatoos I know they're cool and pretty and what ever but hurting yourself to get art just no, it's not natural. Going to the pigs again... it's not fair! they have no power to chose whether they want to be tatooed or not and just because you are Pepe Perez and do art tatooing pigs it doesn't mean you are doing the right thing. For me it isn't right, cool, awesome or all those good adjectives that people say this art can be.
ResponderEliminarI think that putting on tatoos on the pigs is really cool, because I always thought that the pigs were boring, ugly, and dirty. Now I ehink that the pigs are pretty cool, and that they are awsome. even though I think that this tatoos are really good, but I also think that the tatoos are not for every one, because some people does not look right with tatoos. and the tatooos also make you look like a rude guy, ad when you ask for a job, the tatoos can make you to do not get the job you want, because the boss will thik that you are a bad person just for having a tatoo. this is not fair because you are making art with your body and that does not makes you a bad person.
ResponderEliminarI agree with anna, because not all the people look right with tatoos, but what i dont agree is that the pigs does not look right with the tatoos. because they are awsome!!!!!
ResponderEliminarI agree with fernanda , because the tatoos are not good for the body, and more if you have cancer....
ResponderEliminarwell, I am not that impressive, I think that there is people that abuse much more that these persons with the animals. but I am kind of disappointed because it is not fair that they paint permanently a body that is not of them, if you want to do a permanently tattoo is your choice, you will not like that they obligate you, because it hurts!
ResponderEliminarI accept the idea is original but horrible an the designs are very cool and colorful. And I also accept and respect to this people that do this, because they have to be brave, because not every person have the valentia to do this, and I think it is not easy to tattoo a pig!!
@san roman
ResponderEliminaryes san roman I am totally agree with you.. Why with pigs? They are living things and they feel everything and the can´t defend, but guess what???, this is the same or I think it is worst the bullfighting!!!
@anna
ResponderEliminarYes this art is not of my taste neither! I am totally agree with you it is not fair that they do this terrible things to this poor animals! It is not right
i think this tattos are pretty awesome they are very inovating and i think that it doesn t matter if the artist make a tatto in a pig because tomorrow or any other day this pigs will be sacrifice to convert to a very delicious sandwich. It s incredible how many people like my classmates are so ofended with this pictures, they are very ignorant and they dont have any idea of what art. ispect more art very innovating like this
ResponderEliminarWell i really dont like the tattos, for me the tattos are for people without education, without respect for thir body and maybe i kind of like some designs but the designs show here on the pigs are really horrible
ResponderEliminar@David negrete and Larch
ResponderEliminari agree with larch because then of the process the pigs will feel weak and with pain in their body and also why to do it in animals they cants say if yes or no, if they want to do tattos they should do it on his body or his mom body
@valeria
ResponderEliminarI agree with you because this is not so much creative as the guy think its like tattoing a person for me its kind of stupid
Well to start i tottaly dislike permanent tattos beacause for me is a way to not respect your skin, also you can get a disease like VIH, and also i dont have so much problem with people with 1 or 2 tattos but when they put a lot of tattos its grose, is like the mal gusto, i think they tatto for call the atention.
ResponderEliminarAlso i dislike they used the pigs they will feel pain later or can get a diseas if he want to tatto why he doesnt tatto himself??
@samuel ramirez
ResponderEliminarthis art isnt even inovating!! its a copy it wpould be inovating if using his own designs! and also by your argument a life that is destined to end is worthless? then what about people who have incurable diseases should we do the same with them, should we use them as test subjects or something like that? had you given any thought to that or were you as you say "ignorant"
When i first saw it i just thought one thing: Skin by Roald Dahl.
ResponderEliminarIt's about this man that paints his masterpiece in the back of his friend... a really great story.
Now back to the work of art... i simply don't like it. i know, i shouldn't be so judgemental, but i don't like painting-like tatoos. sure, a little one with one ink is ok, but making this is i don't know... not good.
i hate the color of the ink of tatoos, that's what i hate about them.
but i think it's the same value the things a tatoo artist does compared to Damien, just Damien doesn't ask what his victims want.
la verdad yo pienso que esto esta mal, porque es una crueldad que a los animales hagan este tipo de cosas , como si ellos no sintieran y fueran un simple objeto; no por crear una nueva forma de arte, tienen que usar a un ser vivo para hacer este tipo de cosas.Pienso que si tienes imaginacion y creatividad puedes inventar cualquier cosa pero que no sea algo cruel , porque no son un objeto que no sienta , que nadamas porque no hable y creas que no sienta, hacer lo que quieras con ellos.
ResponderEliminarEn parte no me llamaria mucho la antencion ver un puerco tatuado; siento que no es nada relevante para que hagan este tipo de cosas.
@Samantha Anguiano C
pienso que tu forma de pensar sobre esto, esta mal, porque no es un echo de imaginacion, si no la desesperacion de crear cosas nuevas sin razon , es bastante cruel , el arte que hacen en ellos podria estar padre y lo que quieras, pero que llegara un tipo y te tatuara sin poder decir nada ni defenderte , nadamas porque tiene "imaginacion",realmente no se me hace impresionante ni padre.
@Samuel Ramirez
pienso que hay gente ignorante , y como es un animal , y porque alrrato morira, tenemos que aprobechar y crear arte en ellos... ¿?
En primera todas las personas en este mundo van a ser ignorantes , T O D O S en algun momento de nuestra vida tendran que ignorar algo, nunca va a haber una persona que sepa todos los conocimientos que existen en la tierra.Por otra parte creo que las personas que piensan en eso no tienen corazon para pensar que es un SER VIVO , que tambien respiran y que no por el echo que desde que nacen ya estan literalmente "muertos", tengas que hacerle daño a estos animales . Realmente se me hace una manera muy cruel de pensar.
I think think this pictures are really cool, so do the tatoos on the pigs. I think this kind of art is a little bit weird and crazy but it is funny and good. What I don't like is that this pigs are sold in so high prices in the world, I don't think this tatoo pigs worth it at all. Another thing that i like a lot is that the pigs are sedated before being tatoo, so now everyone that coment that this was animal cruelty can shut their pipeholes down. thumbs up james
ResponderEliminar@Omar Najar
ResponderEliminarI don't agree with your way of thinking, but I do respect it. I don't think it hurts the pigs and even less that they get any disease, they are used to live literally on shit so i don't see the problem in that, and I really think it is ridicolous to say that is bad because the pigs can get VIH, and if that would happens I don't think it affects at all to you, cause in a healthy mind, I don't get the idea of how can a person get VIH from pig...
@luis angel reyes
ResponderEliminartatoos keep hurting days after they are done, also its not a matter of the pigs pasing on the HIV (not VIH)its the fact that people dont care that is astounishing and I dont understand how you can find this "funny"
@ Carlos Meneses
ResponderEliminarI didn't like the part where it says that this guy has a farm in china because there are no animal rights, but he isn't doing any harm to the pigs as the chinese people do to other animal, that is real cruelty. This is for making art and the pigs doesn't get hurt. I'm sure he didn't do it to be cruel, he did it for a totally different thing, art, and this is what most of you don't understand...
@luis angel reyes
ResponderEliminarwhat you dont seem to understand is that the end do not justify the means. It does hurt the pigs and precisly because he does hurt them he had to buy the farm in china, if he didnt hurt them there wouldnt be any problem with him havin the farm in any other country, also make some reaserch, the reason he started painting LIVE pigs instead of dead ones as he originaly deed was because he thought the pigs would grow both physically and ECONOMICALLY so wheres the art n that?
@Jaime Hernandez
ResponderEliminarI really like the artist, just not this branch of his work, I found the "sex windows" really interesting though and I think it was very ingenious of him to inject barium to the people so they woul be shown in the x rays