The Sickest of Slaughters – Germans Sanction Death By Guillotine For Art’s Sake
Two students in Germany have provoked outrage by threatening to slaughter a sheep in the name of art. Ein Experiment der Künstler Iman Rezai und Rouven Materne (‘an experiment of the artists Iman Rezai and Rouven Materne’) asks the question “should this sheep be killed?”, and maintains a countdown to the day of the possible execution.
The first of two videos (see below) released by the pair, shows the painstaking construction of their guillotine which is painted in a gaudy array of bright neon colours.
The sheep is then menacingly presented to the apparatus, and the heavy blade is hoisted to the top of the frame.
Currently the balance of opinion lies in favor of sparing the animal, but the two men have said they are duty bound to slay the lamb if ‘democratic’ opinion swings in the opposite direction. This, despite facing prosecution under German laws preventing the unnecessary killing of animals.
The proposition has invoked a wave of revulsion, with several people commenting that only vegetarians have the right to decry this. This is clearly preposterous; there is no equivalence between sanctioning the killing of livestock for food and the senseless murder of an animal as some sideshow stunt parading under the banner of ‘art’. By that score, it would seem that anything goes if the end is art.
It is also highly objectionable to justify murder as a ‘duty’ on the basis of a VolksWahl (people’s choice). Majorities can be wrong. Need we be reminded of the ghastly but logical conclusion of such a callous, mechanical and casual disregard for life?
Rezai and Materne have posted a second video which betrays an almost clinical fetishism.
This depicts the two students dressed in white overalls, with their instrument of death erected within a room lined with plastic sheets on the floor and the walls. The sheep is manhandled behind the guillotine, and for two and a half minutes the blade is seen and heard to drop on a constant and hypnotic loop.
Am I alone in seeing similarities with a certain genre of ‘animated GIFs’ that exploit the repetition of a short looped video extract for a form of gratification?
UPDATE (Wed 16 May, 2012): With the deadline set to expire tomorrow, an eleventh hour saviour from the US has stepped in to buy the guillotine for $2.3M. That is one valuable sheep! A spokesperson for the buyer said, “He bought it because of the art. Also, it is a fact that it might be a way to save the sheep’s life.”
Takedown News asks: What is your view on this story? Leave your reaction below.
12 Responses to “The Sickest of Slaughters – Germans Sanction Death By Guillotine For Art’s Sake”
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May 15, 2012
[...] The first of two videos released by the pair, shows the painstaking construction of their guillotine which is painted in a gaudy array of bright neon colors. They talk of spending "too long" over bringing it to fruition, while the film shows an almost obsessive attention to every detail in polishing the blade and crafting the wooden frame. Finally, the condemned sheep is brought in and is menacingly presented to the apparatus as the heavy blade is hoisted to the top of the frame. [...]
These two are embarrassing the German people. They are carpenters, that’s all. Why do they think this is art? Why a guillotine? Why not build gallows and hang some people?
The whole thing is outrageous and the fact that these two idiots take themselves so seriously is evidence that they need psychiatric help.
Hopefully Iman Rezai and Rouven Materne can be prosecuted for cruelty to animals. This isn’t art, it’s sadism. The “artists” should be kept under observation since they are probably planning to graduate to people quite soon…
Are they so lacking in talent that they are calling the murder of an animal “art”? Shameful and disgraceful. Please respect life, don’t destry it.
Vollidioten.
Das soll Kunst sein? Ein unschuldiges Tier töten? Nur so zom Spaß?
Einfach zum Kotzen!
This is not art. It is yet another blatant form of cruelty metered out-this time to a poor sheep. These people are not artists, they are sadists. I hope the German government will step in and put a stop to this madness.
Definitely NOT art, and stop using art as an excuse to commit an atrocity such as this!
Art are you kidding? It’s murder!!!!!!!
I feel very, very sorry for animals when people like YOU are in this world!
Obviously muslims. So sick of these scum and their abhorrent cruelty.
An anonymous U.S. buyer for has bought the guillotine for $2.3 Million. Yes, the sheep’s life is worth $2.3 Million.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/05/guillotine-lamb-sheep-germans-sold_n_1483957.html
Thanks Carol. Article updated.