Stopping Guillermo Vargas Habacuc

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Comment by My best friends are fuzzy! on November 3, 2008 at 6:20pm

I'm sad to say I just heard of this terrible news. I was an art student for several years and have been out of school for several. I truly understand the frustration of the compitition in the art world and how hard it is to make a name for yourself. This is NOT the way to do it though! Unfortunatly, less than 10% of artist are only able to support themselves soley on thier art alone. To the artist I say, Please, do not do this again. Get a regular job like the rest of us to support your habit. Help to SAVE the animals with whatever "name" you just made for yourself and never do this again! There are other ways my friend, without torturing the innocent, you just have to try.
To the people that viewed the exhibit...the only thing I have to say is that you should be ashamed of yourselves.
To the rest of us who truly do love.....lets keep trying!

Comment by Cait on November 3, 2008 at 5:45pm

I can't believe this. That's all I have stomach enough to say.

Comment by Evan on November 3, 2008 at 12:18pm

Oh, someone just go to the gallery when he attends and blow the twisted mans head off... actually no, this sadistic and psychotic man should suffer something more painful than starvation... he should have his head removed quite slowly. This kind of act towards a person, is borderline terrorist. Seriously.

Comment by comicbookhunter7 on November 2, 2008 at 5:03pm

This is not Art it is killing of a Dog! your a animal KILLER! I have a idea for the next show, I will put a rope around your neck and watch you hang and die. Guillermo Vargas Habacuc this is your last warning, STOP this act of killing or you will pay for this with your own life OK. your next show will be your last one. I would like to know of the next show? when and where? my other question what kind of people want to see this? there are some very sick in the head people out there, go away!

Comment by Sarah on October 30, 2008 at 6:09pm

this makes me sick!

Comment by Moni Badal on October 29, 2008 at 3:29pm

This is pretty ridiculous. Regardless of what his "point" was about people not caring, I refuse to believe that his art space couldn't be used in other ways to get points across withoutmaking the animal suffer.

If he cares so much about animals then why not give the dog a second chance, bring it to the exhibit with "before" pictures (since the dog was supposedly starving and emaciated prior to the exhibit) and then at the event show a happy dog with a bed, food and water, and how it doesn't take much to make a difference in the life of one animal, but if hundreds of people make this small sacrifice, we can save hundreds of animals. I refuse to believe that this is the best way of "getting a point across"

In my opinion, art is presenting something in a new, unusual, intriguing way. There is nothing about taking a starving animal and simply moving it's location. It was not creative or inventive, it was just extreme. I definitely have more contempt for the onlookers who did nothing. If I was at this exhibit I would have done everything from raise a scene to sneak in food and water for the pup to untying it. Not only is it suffering physically but under mental stress too. It is horribly how the dog died, but at least now he is unable to suffer any longer.

Comment by Palmer Fishman on October 23, 2008 at 3:25pm

I am an artist and animal activist living in Managua, Nicaragua. Since learning about this case I have been working to do something about it, both with artists and animal activists here and abroad. After months of research and communication, I can report the following, good, bad, and unclear:

GOOD: Humane Society International sent their Latin America Director down here, and we met with local animal protection organizations the Association for the Protection of Animals (APA) and Casa Lupita. HSI has pledged to collaborate with the APA on their agenda of education, free or low-cost spaying and neutering and medical treatment, and continued work to improve legal protection.

GOOD: YOU CAN HELP!!! Please donate to HSI's Street Animal program at

https://secure.hsus.org/01/hsi_don_humane_animal_control
and then write an email to
info@hsus.org
telling them the amount of your donation and that you want it used in Nicaragua. HSI will send funds to APA, the local and very competent organization, and we will be able to fight for animal welfare here. It is an uphill battle.

BAD: A friend discovered there actually was a law on the books to protect animals. Unfortunately, no department of government has responsibility or budget to enforce it. Some artist friends and I spent hours on several days in the police station trying to report the deliberate starving and mistreatment of 2 other dogs, and no one knew what we were talking about, even when we showed them the text of the law. Since this law only came into effect in the last month, there really was nothing in place under which to prosecute Vargas.

GOOD: Several NGOs have submitted better legislation to the National Assembly, but BAD say it has been watered down by interests in favor of allowing cock, dog, and bull fighting as part of the 'national heritage'.

BAD: Natividad was far from alone in his plight as a neglected, abused animal. The poverty and cultural norms regarding animals are such that I see starving, ill dogs in the street several times a day. Dogs with homes are not necessarily better off, as many are kept tied up on short chains all day and mistreated in order to make them aggressive guard dogs at night.

GOOD: I have spoken with the logistical organizers of the Central American Biennal, and they assured me no animals would be involved in Habacuc's/Vargas' work on exhibit.
WEAK: Vargas will still participate. There will be a Panel Discussion on Ethics in Art, in which he will partcipate. Several of my artist friends will speak their piece on behalf of animals.

BAD: A Nicaraguan man Natividad Canda actually was torn apart in Costa Rica by 2 guard dog rottweilers, and onlookers, including police, did nothing to save him. All of those potentially reponsible for his death were recently acquitted, igniting a firestorm of Nica-Costa Rican accusations of racism. Nicaraguans are the cheap labor in Costa Rica, and often treated badly. There were also several comments that the dogs were valued more than the man, which didn't help the situation.
My take is that the rottweilers, like most guard dogs, are mistreated and trained to be as aggressive as possible. Two German Shephards tore out the asshole of my adopted street dog last time we were on a walk, and he didn't even step on their property.
UNCLEAR: What Vargas actually did to the dog. Several sources from the local art world's inner sanctum, who are also animal protectors, told me Vargas started the horrific stories himself, and that all the upset and controversy were a manipulative part of his 'work of art' about the relative attention to scandal of 1 street dog vs. 1 indigent Nicaraguan man . Hence they have decided not to give him one more iota of the attention he seems to crave, at the Bienal or afterwards, and to work independently on behalf of animals.

I am sure there is much more to dispute about all of this, but please remember there are many animals, suffering in this incredibly poor country, and your donations can help them directly.
Thank you

Comment by Jennifer on August 8, 2008 at 10:17am

Guys, no need to raise a rukus. He's not doing it at the biennal. But... the read the second paragraph -- it might enlighten you as to what Vargas' was trying to do...

"In August, 2007, Vargas displayed his "Exposición N° 1" in the Códice Gallery in Managua, Nicaragua. The exposition included the burning of 175 pieces of crack cocaine and an ounce of marijuana while the Sandinista anthem played backwards.[6][7] The work also included an emaciated dog tied to a wall by a length of rope with "Eres Lo Que Lees" ("You Are What You Read") written on the wall in dog food.[6][7] The work attracted controversy when it was reported that the dog had starved to death as part of Vargas's work.[6][5] Photographs of the exhibit appeared on the Internet, showing the dog tied to the wall in a room full of standing people. There are no indications in the photos of where or when they were taken, nor of who took them. The outrage triggered by the photos and the allegations that the dog had been left to starve to death quickly spread internationally via blogs, e-mails, and other unconfirmed sources, including internet petitions to prevent Vargas from participating in the 2008 Bienal Centroamericana in Honduras that received over four million signatures.[8][7] Vargas has endorsed the petition, saying that he, too, has signed it.[9]
Juanita Bermúdez, the director of the Códice Gallery, stated that the animal was fed regularly and was only tied up for three hours on one day before it escaped.[6][7] Vargas himself refused to comment on the fate of the dog,[7][5] but noted that no one tried to free the dog, give it food, call the police, or do anything for the dog.[5] Vargas stated that the exhibit and the surrounding controversy highlight people's hypocrisy because no one cares about a dog that starves to death in the street.[5] In an interview with El Tiempo, Vargas explained that he was inspired by the death of Natividad Canda, an indigent Nicaraguan addict, who was killed by two Rottweilers in Cartago Province, Costa Rica, while being filmed by the news media in the presence of police, firefighters, and security guards.[10]

Upon conducting a probe, the Humane Society of the United States was informed that the dog was in a state of starvation when it was captured and escaped after one day of captivity; however, the organization also categorically condemned "the use of live animals in exhibits such as this." [11] The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) also investigated the exhibit.[8] WSPA found the information regarding the issue to be "inconsistent" and met with sponsors of the Honduras Bienal to ensure that no animals would be abused at the 2008 exhibition in that country. [8] "

While I don't agree that it's art in any way whatsoever... I also condemn the people who willingly watched or saw the exhibit and did nothing. By doing nothing they PROVED Vargas' point -- NO ONE does nothing for the dogs in the street -- and NO ONE did anything for the dog in the exhibit.

Comment by zeina on August 8, 2008 at 8:46am

He calls himself an artist? Shame. Such a pathetic person. He should be treated the same way he treated the dog. And here I was, proud of all the artists in the world. UGH. I am ashamed to be called an artist now.

Comment by Jill on July 25, 2008 at 8:38pm

What makes him think he can treat animals like this? He says he wants to raise awareness about what is going on in Latin America, saying how this happens all the time. If he wanted to raise awareness he wouldn't be displaying a dog as 'art' and showing how it starves, surely he would be trying to prevent this in other, less harmful ways. I am utterly sickened at what he has done.

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