When the San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) sent out the press release for the artists chosen to decorate the Central Subway project, I filed it in my "ticker" file with a note to keep checking back.
I didn't give it much further thought except to note that some of the larger grants had not gone to local artists.
Like many San Franciscans, I was dubious about the value of the subway project. The price tag of $8 million and rising was high to begin with and a few extra million to various artists didn't seem more than a drop in the bucket of political patronage.
The name "Tom Otterness" didn't ring a bell.
But Joshua Sabatini of the SF Examiner was more on the ball than me. More importantly, he was more on the ball on the SF Arts Commission, which had awarded Otterness a $750,000 grant to make art for the new subway.
Back in 1977 Otterness adopted a dog and then murdered it, creating a film which he titled "Shot Dog Film."
The San Francisco Arts Commission claimed to be unaware of "Shot Dog Film" when they awarded the contract. When notified of the film, Ed Lee, mayor of San Francisco called for the contract to be rescinded, calling "Shot Dog Film" "deeply disturbing."
In 2008, Otterness issued a public apology in an interview in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle:
"Thirty years ago when I was 25 years old, I made a film in which I shot a dog. It was an indefensible act that I am deeply sorry for. Many of us have experienced profound emotional turmoil and despair. Few have made the mistake I made. I hope people can find it in their hearts to forgive me -- Tom Otterness.” (Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 2008.)
But the question contined to arise - everywhere it appears, except at the MTA (Municipal Transit Authority) and SFAC (San Francisco Arts Commission).
In a recent New York Observer magazine article, the reporter said Otterness knew the question about the dog killing was coming:
“What the f--- do I do with this?” he said. He grew visibly upset. “Certainly the scene it was part of, it was in the context of the times and the scene I was in.” He began again. “It is something I’ve grown to understand that nothing really excuses that kind of action. I had a very convoluted logic as to what effect I meant to have with that video. Whatever I had in mind, it was really inexcusable to take a life in service of that.”
Apologies don't cut much ice in the city of St. Francis, home to a variety of animal rights activist groups.
“You do not let an animal shooter put up 59 sculptures in your subway system,” said Anita Carswell, director of the Guardian Campaign for In Defense of Animals. “This is a slap in the face of The City. It’s going to be offensive to everybody that rides the subway, a reminder: ‘People who shoot dogs for stupid reasons get rewarded.’”
Mayoral candidate Leeland Yee has launched an on-line petition to terminate his contract:
"It is completely unacceptable for taxpayers, especially here in San Francisco, to foot a $750,000 bill on someone who tortured a dog as part of a supposed art film,” Yee said in a statement. “I am shocked that once again the MTA has failed the public.”
Other artists have murdered animals in the name of "art." In 2007, Costa Rican artist Guillermo Vargas let a dog starve to death. The animal was chained to a wall,in plain view of the exhibition visitors, some of whom demanded futilely that the dog be released.
In 2008, a proposed exhibit at the SFAI by Algerian born, Parisian based artist Adel Abdessemed was stopped by animal rights groups. Called "Don't Trust Me," the show would have included a series of video loops of animals being bludgeoned to death by the artist with a sledgehammer in front of a brick wall. The animals killed included a pig, goat, deer, ox, horse and sheep.
So, what do you think? If stone cold killers can get a "get of jail free" pass and current animal abusers get huge sports contracts, should we forgive and forget something that happened 34 years ago?
Forgive - that's up to you.
Forget? Otterness' public art can be quite charming but knowing that he murdered an animal in the name of "art" whould always color my reactions.
I still remember the controversy over Abdessemed and the self-righteous pose by the then head of the SFAI, charging artistic censorship, when those of us who loath cruelly to animals, much less sadism that poses as art, won the day.
But cancel the contract?
Yes. And give it to a local artist.
SFAC - call me. I've got a list.
What do you think?
Joshua Sabatini's original article: http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/2011/09/sculptor-who-killed-dog-set-make-san-francisco-central-subway-art
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