Animal rights’ groups in the Netherlands are angry about the newest work by the artist Tinkebell. She has glued coloured beads to the shells of more than 1,000 live snails. The snails will be part of an exhibition about animals at the VillaZebra children’s museum in Rotterdam.
“Ridiculous that living creatures are being used to amuse museum visitors, especially children,” said the director of the local animal protection society. It’s not the first time the artist’s work has caused controversy. Tinkebell (a pseudonym for Katinka Simonse) first hit the headlines in 2004 when she made a handbag made from her dead cat. Then in 2008 she exhibited 95 hamsters running non-stop in balls.
The decorated snails are to be part of an exhibition about animals called Ah, wat lief (Oh, how sweet). Jolanda Bouwman of VillaZebra said “We want to show that while people find many animals endearing, there are others that give them the creeps. By turning their shells into artworks, she makes the snails special and even gives them personality”.
The exhibition is due to open on Thursday. Click here to see video footage of the snails recorded by the artist.
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Wow. It seems like people don't understand transgressive art at all. Also, since when is gluing beads to a snail's shell any worse than painting the shell of a hermit crab? How has no one thrown a fit about that? Oh, they won't because they're making money off of it.
This is not art, it's psychopathology!! This must
be stopped! I have an idea for an exhibition- can
she kill herself and display her own body?? Let
me know when tickets for that go on sale.
Esthetically pleasing and provocative enough to evoke some squawking. If that ain't art, I don't know what is.
What is the abuse, did you never eat a lobter taken alive and the put it in hot water or get a fish alive from the stank and then fried it and eat.
all comentary here are pure hypocresy.
Got to africa to see haw many children deth evry day, and for sure you never donate a cent.
Like human beings every animal has the equal right to survive and its very unfortunate that in the name of art Tinker Bell has been torturing animals and its showcasing should be banned.
Toiletter
SNAIL BLING
Some people are extremely ridiculous.
Snail rights?....GIMME A FREAKING BREAK!!!
XD
Lighten up. The French, Spanish and Italians eat them and most gardeners just stomp on them, feed them poison or drown them in beer. They're just molluscs for GS!
Snails live for years - this is a terrible thing to do to them, and anyway could only serve to hint to children that other animals as they are are not good enough. The cat-handbag thing doesn't bother me, but this artist really seems a bit desperate for attention, and not very imaginative at all.
Imposing her desperation on the lives and bodies of other living creatures is horrible and pathetic. I hope the exhibition removes her 'work' and sets about cleaning this crap off the snails.
Worry when they do this to a mammal or a bird, not a mollusk.
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