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Animal Art

© Joe Jeskiewicz

I would like to explain a little something this week about animal art. I'm not talking about a picture or a painting of an animal, but rather about that 'artwork' in which the animal is the 'artist' (notice the quotes). I would like to debunk the myth that this can in a fundamental way be attributed to the animal, rather than the handler. That's right, I'm bringing the animal's handler/owner into the picture.

First off, I'd like to say that I am 100% in support of the thought that animals are intelligent and thinking creatures with a capacity for memory, understanding, and emotion. I am, however, against the notion of dipping a dog in paint and letting them skitter across a canvas on the floor, and considering the resulting mess as the animal's art. This is not the animal's art, and I'll tell you why.

The animals that are usually subject to this farce are following the expectations of the owner in accomplishing some task. The animals in question do not make a conscious choice as to subject matter, type of art, color of paint, medium, etc. The animal didn't make a conscious decision to go down to the store, pick out the appropriate items, return, and work on art. For what I've seen in all instances of this so-called animal art, the owner/handler provides everything for the animal and even directs them through the process.

The truth be told, the most common animal art I've heard of is someone dipping their dog in paint and letting them run around a canvas for a while. Other than that I've heard of an elephant with a paintbrush and a chimp/simian with a easel and paint set. Of any of the animal artists that I would consider , it would be the chimp/simian based only on one example I've seen. While the situation had been forced (animal provided with a paint set and a blank canvas) the choices made and the result indicate an expression or desire for communication by some means.

What does this leave the rest of the animal art classified as? Fraud art? No, of course not, there are some interesting pieces out there that have been 'created' by animals. I would not denounce the artwork simply because the artist behind it is not correctly identified. The true artists of many of these pieces are the owners and handlers of the animals. That's right, the animal is just being used as another tool to create the art. And this means that the art in question can correctly be called Method Art.

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