Please sign petition of protest: man shoots dog for “art”, gets $750,000 city contract yrs. later

Please click on and sign:

Do not waste tax payers’ money on dog killer Tom Otterness


Background | From SFGate City Insider

Update: Since this story was published this morning, Mayor Ed Lee has called for Tom Otterness’ planned public art installation in the Central Subway to be put on hold.

Lee, through his spokeswoman, called Otterness’ 1977 film “deeply disturbing” and asked his Central Subway project be put on hold.

The Arts Commission will investigate the situation, said P.J. Johnston, the commission’s president. The contract has been awarded to Otterness’ studio, but no money has been paid yet, he said.

“I understand the incident was 34 years ago,” he said, “but it certainly is disturbing and so we’re going to take a look at it.”

11:17 a.m.: A sculptor who shot a dog for an art film in the 1970s has won a $750,000 contract to create public art for the Central Subway.

Tom Otterness, a Brooklyn-based artist, has created public art all over Europe, Asia, Canada and the United States, with an emphasis on New York City.

But he garnered notoriety in 1977 when he adopted a black-and-white dog from an animal shelter and shot it to death with the camera rolling. The footage ended up in his avant-garde movie Shot Dog Film.

Otterness has since apologized, telling the Brooklyn Daily Eagle in 2008, “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.”

For the Central Subway, Otterness will receive $750,000 to create a series of humorous bronze sculptures of transit riders. The news was first reported by the San Francisco Examiner.

Kate Patterson, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco Arts Commission, said the judging panel was not aware of the controversial film when it made its selection in July 2010.

“That said, the selection panel based its decision on the strength of his portfolio and his proposal,” she said.

Noting that the incident happened three decades ago, Patterson said, “Since then, his work has brought a lot of joy to a lot of people, and we think his proposal for the Central Subway is going to be wonderful and people will take a lot of pleasure in viewing it and enjoying it for many years.”

Not so, says Anita Carswell, campaign director of the Guardian Campaign, a local group created by In Defense of Animals.

“Who’s going to want to take the subway every day and see it and be reminded that a dog-shooter, who did something totally sociopathic for his own claim to fame, could get away with that?” she said.

10 billion animals are butchered for “food art” every year, just in the US.  You can save 100 of them:

SEE MORE:

• Compassion
• Earthlings
• Free Vegan Guides
• Cruelty-Free
• The Link

what is your definition of art
as an artist mine is creations
that come from the heart
not ones that smell
like they ascended from hell

Karen Lyons Kalmenson