Steve Baker, ‘Art & Animal Rights’ - Reading Report
In this reading report from Steve Baker, Artist/Animal (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2013), pp. 144–179, states and explores the work of contemporary artists who straightforwardly confront the question of animal life, Baker states how it’s not only about the aesthetic qualities or as symbols of the human condition however, as beings who live and share the world with humanity.
To begin with Baker mentions three artists so I decided to focus on a few key ideas that relate to my graphic media work while all the artists mentioned relate to my project on Nature, I wanted to focus on something shocking, rough and the raw reality of nature and not our fantasy of it and finally expand more on this. I decided to focus on “Angelia Singer: It Should Be Done Strongly” (Steve Baker, Artist/Animal. p.165) she highlights how nature is rough, raw but also flowers and butterflies. Singer portrays this through her art made of dead animal remains which she turns into an object and decorates them with jewels, in sometimes beautiful and disgusting ways. Her goal is to“shock the viewer into a new way of seeing and thinking about the animal” (Steve Baker, Artist/Animal. p.165)
In my opinion I believe this can raise some issues or misunderstandings such as viewers seeing this as an opportunity to just add to the already popularised topic of animal-as-object (dead animals on clothes or as decorations). Singer is only contributing to this by stripping the animal’s rights that she speaks so much about. However, the difference is that she’s doing it in the name of animal rights, does that justify it? Baker wrote this in a implicit way by writing “but her work offers one of the clearest examples of the unsettling power of animal-as-object.” (Steve Baker, Artist/Animal. p.166) The “but” only justifying again this way of expressing her concerns through art is controversial. Furthermore, Singer herself states “it’s bizarre that I’m handling these animals so roughly... on how we treat animals so badly” (Steve Baker, Artist/Animal. p.173). Animals do not have rights in the same way that humans have rights, for example another human could not use my dead body to be deconstructed and reconstructed into an object for art. So why do this to an animal? Perhaps to reflect that point exactly how we can do whatever we want with animals. Perhaps because we are the dominant race.
“It’s not ideological, it’s about real life and death...Almost everyone knows something about the reality of animal suffering. It doesn’t really matter if the work is understood with anything other than the heart. I would prefer it to be felt, for the viewer to be vulnerable and open up to compassion.” (Steve Baker, Artist/Animal. p.165)
- Angelia Singer
On the other hand, Singer has a different yet similar opinion and I believe it also proves her point of the harsh reality she’s trying to show us. To me I find her art hypocritical, although here point of expressing the delicacy, beauty and rawness of nature is definitely shown in her work and I applause her for that, not only that she uses recycled animal parts to save, respect and honour their deaths. Baker states how Singer’s work is all about treating the deceased animal with respect and restoring its body to something beautiful again and horrible at the same time. To symbolise how nature is both beautiful and ugly and that itself can be an aesthetic. Furthermore, it’s also not only about nature as she turns them into objects which are man made, but us humans are also animals or are we no longer animals because we aren’t one with nature? Overall, Singer states how her art is made in an “abstract form so that people would bring their own interpretation or their own questions to it”, (Steve Baker, Artist/Animal. p.174) so people are free to their own opinion and feelings, perhaps just like nature is, freedom.
In addition, Baker refers to art and what it adds to anything. “The one thing it really adds is somebody making a considered emotional response” (Steve Baker, Artist/Animal. p.176). I think this is key, emotion is a way to change things or simply make someone care and Singer also takes this approach with her strong controversial sculptures just like she says “it should be done strongly” (Steve Baker, Artist/Animal. p.177) for such a powerful issue, it shouldn’t be done simply either. Art can take different forms to express the same issue just how Baker talks about Sue Coe’s 2005 book sheep of Fools, which highlights sheep being gutted in a factory in a gruesome, eerie and controlled way similar to Singer. However, it’s still not as impactful as using the dead animals themselves as a statement. So perhaps it’s the process and what they go through when making the art, that also adds to a strong response. Another artist Baker mentioned who also has the same motive is Barrita Jaschinski, who takes photographs from the animal’s perspective and not the viewer to perhaps highlight their importance and capture the rawness of nature itself. This also is about animals rights however in a more subtle way. Although in the end all the artwork made arises questions with no clear answers, but it does create emotion which is more powerful then words.
“The most political art is the art of ambiguity” (Steve Baker, Artist/Animal. p.176)
This links to my graphic media work which will have a strong impact with no clear answer but will be free for the viewers own interpretations, in the same way Singer does too. Using the rawness of nature as the centre to shock the viewers into its true beauty. It should be done strongly, for example the art should have power without using words because it’s worthy of it, just like we as humans are. Animal rights and human rights should be equal in every aspect, because we are all animals in the end.
Overall, what I found interesting about the way Baker wrote this book was the fact that he considered every aspect of nature such as, humans, animals, feeling, thinking and importantly animal rights. His search for meaning and questions with no wrong or right answers is what made it successful.
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