Research Topic: Factory farming/ Animal Rights
I want to focus on the topic of factory farming and how it affects animals. I thought it would be really interesting to know more about it, but also be able to portray what I am learning through art and have it work alone as a composition.
Factory Farming: a system of rearing livestock using intensive methods, by which poultry, pigs, or cattle are confined indoors under strictly controlled conditions.
Animal Rights: rights believed to belong to animals to live free from use in medical research, hunting, and other services to humans.
Artist inspirations:
Ron English
Ron English created the cover art for a movie called Supersize Me.
“Director Morgan Spurlock’s social experiment in fast-food gastronomy sees him attempting to subsist uniquely on food from the McDonald’s menu for an entire month. In the process his weight balloons, his energy level plummets and he experiences all sorts of unexpected — and terrifying — side effects. He also examines the corporate giant’s growing role in the lives of American consumers and explores its methods of indoctrinating young people and its contribution to America’s obesity epidemic.” (Wikipedia, Supersize Me)
Activism Protest:
I couldn’t find much information on the protest, but a group of activists puts themselves in meat packaging to show the unfair treatment of the animals.
Food Inc. (Movie):
“Documentary filmmaker Robert Kenner examines how mammoth corporations have taken over all aspects of the food chain in the United States, from the farms where our food is grown to the chain restaurants and supermarkets where it’s sold.”
This film shows a lot of the factory farming and animal abuse that goes on in commercial farming. This film created a lot of commotion because not a lot of people knew about the abuse that happens.
Banksy:
Banksy is a famous street artist who creates a lot of social and political commentary with the pieces he creates. It is vaguely unknown who he actually is, but his work is recognizable worldwide. I didn’t know that he create any animal activism pieces. This showed me that it isn’t only activists who are trying to change something, but a lot of artists and celebrities are going out of there way to share their concern and make an actual change.
PETA Ad Campaigns:
PETA is an animal rights organization that is known for its ‘intense’ ad campaign. They use celebrity and guilt to try and get people to stop buying fur or go vegetarian. Some of the ads go as far to show a skinned animal, trying to get people to stop where fur.