Por Isamar Gutiérrez Ariño
El objetivo de este ejercicio es, principalmente, concienciar a los alumnos sobre las formas del maltrato animal y la utilización de los animales a lo largo de la historia del arte, desde la Prehistoria hasta nuestros días, y después, aprender acerca de las obras y el arte de distintos personajes. Son muchos los artistas que han recurrido a los animales para crear sus obras, ya sea poniéndolos como tema, analizando su anatomía para retratarlos fielmente, empleándolos como material, o incluso para desatar polémica y atraer la atención del público.
A series of artworks in all forms—painting, sculpture, and architecture—will be analyzed; but their main theme will be animals. Animals may be portrayed in the artwork, used as models, served as physical materials (fur in a collage, blood as an ingredient in the paint, etc.), or even be part of the artwork itself.
First, a series of images selected by the teacher will be projected: paintings, collages, sculptures, photographs of exhibitions, artists… As an example, I cite some, but there are many and any can be used:
-History of pigments of biological origin: Tyrian purple, which is obtained from the mucus of a snail, carmine, which comes from crushed cochineal…, the mixture with egg for tempera and the hair of many natural brushes.
-Artistas denominados animal rights activists: que hayan tenido una especial relación con los animales, ya sea por la abundancia de ellos en su obra, por su forma especial de tratarlos…o bien artistas que de una forma u otra le den una importancia especial a los animales en su vida o en su obra: Leonardo da Vinci, vegetariano, compraba pájaros vivos en el mercado y luego los liberaba; Edwin Landseer, que popularizó una serie de pinturas representando perros rescatando niños de las aguas; Manuel Sosa, uno de los pintores españoles de animales más realistas; William Turner, que llegó a desgarrar uno de sus cuadros para hacerle una gatera a sus gatos…
-The iconic representation of animals in Romanesque capitals: given that the function of these capitals was to indoctrinate, the animals were carved according to the qualities attributed to them. For example, the serpent was associated with evil, and was therefore represented in a very negative, degrading way, eating people, tempting Eve… Creating the idea that serpents were creeping animals and had no right to life.
-The cat in Egyptian art. Unlike in many societies, the cat was venerated in Egypt, and this was reflected in art; in Pharaonic-era families, mourning the death of a cat was the same as mourning the death of a person. This explains why paintings of cats were commissioned, as well as elaborately decorated sarcophagi that have become true works of art.
-The use of animals in captivity or their corpses or skins for anatomical studies: Géròme, Chaime Soutine…
-Controversial artists: Guillermo Vargas Habacuc, his case made headlines. He tied a live stray dog with a short rope at an exhibition and left it to die of starvation in front of the public.
After the presentations, the class will be divided into groups, and each group will be assigned a topic. In four fifty-minute sessions, the students will present their research to the rest of the class. This way, everyone will learn about all the topics covered, and a discussion will be generated. By sharing all the opinions and data, the task of raising awareness will be easier.
This activity will be mandatory and will be included in the final grade.