I am absolutely no fan of propaganda. I hate, HATE, to get emails (and especially the pictures attached to them) telling me how cruel they are in Norway by killing the whales or the seals, for example. I eat meat and enjoy it! I travel by airplane (which other way is there for me to see my family then? Boat?!?), my point is, I don't like these types of manipulative messages. I am aware that we need to be responsible with the environment and take care of it the best way we can, I try my best to recycle as much as I can, to unplug electrical objects that are not in use, I don't own a car, I walk, take the bus or use my bike instead, etc. I try to be conscious of what we eat at home and where it comes from. I am aware! But from time to time, I find something that is eye-catching and interesting. Such is the case of Neozoon, a collective of female street artists that recycle fur coats and transform them into these urban interventions. There is some controversy around it. Is it or is it not an effective way of recycling? Is installation art such as this making a valid point? Or is it yet another way of exploiting the animals? Could the fur be used in a better way? I leave you up with the question.
I had a look at their website, and I to find this group quite interesting. If you compare them to other street artists I think this group might have found a more efficient way of communicating their massage. We have gotten used to the “regular” street artists working with traditional materials like graffiti, stencils and stickers. I don’t think that they have as much impact on us anymore as they used to. Using real fur by recycling old coats will give them more attention, and more people might start thinking about how these animals are treated.
ReplyDeleteI think that if I was a cute little Panda bear, trapped and killed, (at the time of my life when I was looking my best) just to become a fur coat for some random fashionista, I would be pissed. I reckon that the other Pandas would feel the same. As a Panda I think I would not have minded becoming part of an art project, that demonstrates against this cruel industry. Because being a part of a street art project might prevent this from happening to my friends, I would have felt that my death wasn’t meaningless after all. :)
Well said!
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