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Department of Justice
Federal authorities say Enrique Gomez De Molina used pieces of wildlife carcasses to create "sculptures" like the one shown here.
A Miami man who was involved in trafficking animal parts and skins, which he incorporated into sculptures, was sentenced to 20 months in prison, authorities said Friday.
Enrique Gomez De Molina, 48, of Miami Beach, was found guilty of illegally trafficking in endangered and protected wildlife, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Authorities said he used the parts for taxidermy sculptures, which he created in his downtown Miami studio. De Molina attracted the attention of the art world for combining parts of different species and turning them into fantastical creations. In an interview De Molina gave to Thrillist -- he is seen gluing beetle wings to a rhino bust to create an irridescent sculpture. He sold his products over the Internet and in galleries for as much as $80,000.
Read original story on wildlife 'sculpture' at NBCMiami.com
In December 2010, he sold a sculpture at Scope Art in Miami, which was illegally exported to Canada, authorities said.
According to court documents, De Molina imported parts of snakes, birds and orangutangs from places as far away as the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand.
He would find the protected wildlife online and select certain animals from photographs. Some were alive at the time and then shipped to him dead, authorities said. This included a wooly stork, a slow loris and a hornbill.
"I am not a criminal; I am an artist. I have never committed a crime before. I accept this judgment because its brings attention to the destruction of animal species and the dangers of genetic manipulation in our food," he said to NBC 6 in a statement. "I supported the government's work in pursuing the sellers of illegal animal parts through EBay and contacts in foreign countries. Let this judgment bring awareness to my cause. I stand by my art."
See more photos from this endangered wildlife case
De Molina's crimes took place between 2009 and 2011. During the three years, he did not make proper declarations to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or obtain proper import and export permits. In some cases, his transactions were completely illegal, the department said.
U.S. and international law requires the valid licenses under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which is a treaty to prevent over-exploitation of wildlife.
“Trafficking in endangered and threatened species, whether for personal profit or under the guise of art, is illegal," said U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer. "Together with our law enforcement partners, we will strictly enforce the laws that protect our environment and our wildlife.”
In addition to his prison term, he will be fined $6,000.
Authorities want De Molina to turn over all art work that may be comprised of protected or endangered species.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News
Leave a Comment:
Maybe we can have him and his conspirators stuffed and put on display...
This guy got off light, he should have received a much longer prison sentence as well as a much larger fine. Based on the amounts he was selling these sculptures for, the fine should have been orders of magnitude larger. He should have been forced to surrender all profits from the sale of any sculpture containing parts from protected species. I do not know how this SOB can have the gall to say
He was directly responsible for endangered species being killed so he could use their parts in his "art." Based on the statement:
he was well aware of the fact that these endangered animals were being killed in order to supply him with his materials. How can anyone claim that they are not involved in committing a crime when endangered animals are being killed at their behest. I think a prison term more in the range of 8-10 years would have been more appropriate and a fine in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
I would also not call these sculptures art, they are abominations. The art galleries that purchased this "art" should also be charged with trafficking in endangered species as they had to be aware that what they were buying was illegal.
It only takes one idiot human to wipe out an entire species.
RealAmericansFirst, Unfortunately there are lots of idiot humans. This guy seems to be one of the first order. Maybe some day he will be endangered too.
What a pile of intellectual dishonesty and crap.
If what he is saying is true, he should donate all the money he collected to a wildlife preservation fund.
. . . some moron is fashioning art out of endangered species and helping to hurtle them toward extinction?
Well, you might want to shift your primary concern to the Human endangered species the members of which are being shoved toward the global abyss of extinction by the Far Right Wing Republican, Wide Stance, Tea Bagging, Bible Thumping, Anything for profit fanatics, whose agenda includes global warming denial, drill baby drill mentality in the Gulf of Mexico (oh wait, they call it the Gulf of America), pollution for money, and deregulating anything that cuts into the bottom line, whether it is harmful or not.
These greedy megalomaniacs that have made the U.S. food supply more dangerous than Mexico's food handling and packaging standards, have now gotten into the baby food, baby medicine and pharmaceutical safety standards and are poisoning their own progeny for an extra nickel made by producing and packaging everything in China, our mortal enemy for most of the past 60 years.
And you are worried about some Red Crested, Buck Billed, Hammer Headed Pecker Wood in Florida? If the people of this country don't wake up soon and boot the Republicans completely out of the United States, waking up at all might not be as easy as most would wish and not that much farther down this Republican road paved with the bodies of those who don't really matter until it is you.
$6000 is piddling for his crime in the name of Art! He had innocent creatures killed/murdered in the name of what he calls Artistic expression
Fine him $600,000 to help prevent his assets to repeat the crime!!
Are you upset that . . .
Why all the double/triple postings? That's completely unnecessary as is your political spin. You are dreaming if believe that the Democrats have better solutions. It's all the same @!$%#.
Now back to the article.
It's not all the same @!$%#. It's a quite different brand of @!$%#. One has to choose where they want to wallow. Personally I prefer a more liberal, enlightened brand of crap, vs say wading in a sea of Santorum.
I have to say that this is one of the most incredibly bizzare and repulsive articles I've read on here in awhile! Ordering up the deaths of endangered animals for some troubling "Josef mengele" like bastardization of species and calling it art...and then finding people actually willing to buy this disturbed crap to the extent of smuggling it across national borders and then..and this is the best part to me. Actually expecting that they would get away with it! All of them,the buyers included, are seriously warped sonsabitch's and they should have put them under the friggin jailhouse!! Dumb ,delusional bastards!
If anyone believes that he ordered live animals from pictures and received them dead in order to glue together his poor-mans Island of Dr. Moreau and pass that off as 'raising awareness to protect those species' then I fear for you, because you probably would have believed Hilter was just trying to preserve the human race with a stronger gene line.
Judas,
those buyers could have cared less about some fabricated message of awareness. All they were interested in was owning some tabboed thing and proving that they had more than enough money to do it. To me they are as culpable for this in establishing this sickning market as this "frankestienian" lunatic was for creating it! I swear to God!.... they all ought to be hamstrung and dangled upside down in a cage full of starving Baboons and then staked down on beds of fireants to disenfect their wounds before the solitary confinement commences. I say this not as some hyper animal rights activist favoring everything over "human rights" because i'm not..but because this is a clear case of dismissing all forms of empathy, compassion and humanity in order to appease some diseased and glutenous need to demonstrate their wealth and power and calling it art! Its a disgusting display of humanities worst attributes and it should not be dismissed with what will result in a finacial slap on the wrist and a "don't do it again children". If that is what they are delivered in the way of punishment for this,such a measly ammount in fines ...then what is the purpose for all the labors of love trying to protect and preserve those species in the first place and to enormous expense? Its as if they are telling the world that they are worth all the protection and preservation in the world... until they become more valuable when dead! Which has been the position of poachers and smugglers all over the globe from the beggining. I mean for Gods-sake they are confirming their argument for them!
the Republican Party and their Far Right Wing, Fanatic, Wide-Stance, Tea-bagging, Bible Thumping, Base is so busy driving the Human Race to extinction, with their policy of trading product and environmental safety for profit that they can't remember the last time that they appreciated, art, nature or the rest of society? You should be, because the Human race cannot survive under the conditions imposed by the super-wealthy on our society. Hell, the Chinese have been our bitter enemy for the greater part of the past 60 years but the Republicans trust them to package our food supply including baby formula, manufacture our pharmaceuticals and every toy and electronic device that we purchase is "Made in China." The Republicans have sold our children and grandchildren for 30 pieces of sliver and it is time to boot the entire Party out of the country. Maybe they can all go to China, they like it so much.
Are you upset at: I think you have gotten your parties mixed up...
Such spew...
And why do you feel you have to hide behind your child's photo?
Shameful...
Golly, guess you can use anything to bash republicans. An article on an assh#le pretending to be an artist, destroying endangered species and helping to bring many creatures to extinction devolves into a rant against republicans. Pathetic. Such obsessive behaviours often benefit from medical intervention.
Incorrect, Meester "Artist", you ARE a criminal. Being sentenced to 20 months in prison makes you one. You are also supremely stupid.
Are you upset that
You must believe that by kissing Obama and the Democrap aZZ everything is going to be okay!! Lets git rid o them there nasty ole Repubs. That will improve this country. What planet do you live on and what drugs are you using. Man I need some to think the Democrats have not done a dam thing to this country. Why do you think we are in the mess we are in. Oh YEA BUSH I forgot!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Give it a rest!!!!!!!!!!!!
are you that upset..There are plenty of stories that ARE about politics for you to read and complain about. Why do you feel the need to drag the crap into an article about endangered species being destroyed and exploited???? You just make your political positions hard to take and to take seriously when you continually try to force them on people when the conversation has nothing to do with your agenda. Just sayin'..Think about it.
It is true a shame he didn't try to use his talent to help save endangered animals; instead he exploited them.
Where this guy is going, he's going to learn a lot more about different body parts that shouldn't be put together.
Actually, given the nature of the crime and the fact that he will be in the Federal system, it probably won't be at some hard-core sort that specializes in that sort of activity as a pastime. But still, can't help but think that he'll have a hard way to go when he tells the other cons he's an "artist", unless maybe they're mostly a group of disbarred lawyers and ex-stock brokers.
"...it kind of tasted like a cross between a Bald Eagle and a Spotted Owl, your honor..."
Stand by his art. Not true. He will stand by his bank account. The real reason behind his publicity stunt. If you are a real artist you wouldn't have an animal killed only to feed your ego, you would have been satisfied with a picture of the animal or watched it on Animal Planet. I hope the art World shuns you 100%.
He calls this art? This is sick and freakish as are the people who buy this stuff. He got off way too light.
. . . some moron is fashioning art out of endangered species and helping to hurtle them toward extinction?
Well, you might want to shift your primary concern to the Human endangered species the members of which are being shoved toward the global abyss of extinction by the Far Right Wing Republican, Wide Stance, Tea Bagging, Anything for profit fanatics, whose agenda includes global warming denial, drill baby drill mentality in the Gulf of Mexico (oh wait, they call it the Gulf of America), pollution for money, and deregulating anything that cuts into the bottom line, whether it is harmful or not.
These greedy megalomaniacs that have made the U.S. food supply more dangerous than Mexico's food handling and packaging standards, have now gotten into the baby food, baby medicine and pharmaceutical safety standards and are poisoning their own progeny for an extra nickel made by producing and packaging everything in China, our mortal enemy for most of the past 60 years.
And you are worried about some Red Crested, Buck Billed, Hammer Headed Pecker Wood in Florida? If the people of this country don't wake up soon and boot the Republicans completely out of the United States, waking up at all might not be as easy as most would wish and not that much farther down this Republican road paved with the bodies of those who don't really matter until it is you
"The human endangered species" "being shoved to the global abyss of extinction"
"6.998 billion" people on this earth as we speak and that number growing exponentially every minute. So Yes...lets ignore the fact that there truly are species endangerd of becoming extinct all over the planet while you continue to vomit up this unbelievably melodramatic nonsense!! If you truly believe one political party in one nation has that kind of global power and you being a citizen of that one nation ...you might want to consider hanging your hat elsewhere....maybe out in some deep,dank and dismal swamp with those last few remaining "buckbills" of yours.... that way you will be given no more notice or concern than you are willing to give to the other "threatened creatures" of this earth....whom by your train of thought(both of you standing on the "abyss") you should be identifying with ,with some level of empathy and compassion since you and the "hammer heads" are apparently in the same boat! Personally i'll be rooting for the "buck bills" and the "hammer heads"!!
Why not just photoshop images to create these works as digital art instead?
Because he wouldn't be making $80,000 a sculpture then.
Anybody out there know what the most expensive photoshopped piece of 'art' sold for recently?
I suppose he could create his mixed animal sculptures from photos and do something with material other than the real creatures bodies. Maybe not quite as realist but definetly not cruel. And hey..maybe more interesting if he could make them super life like with other materials!!! He had to know what he was doing was wrong so don't have any sympathy for the jail sentence. Maybe he can teach art to some prisoners while he's there and do some thinking about how his talent could be put to better use, like celebrating wildlife rather than destroying!!!! Why doesn't he try road kill art?? At least that would be of service in picking up the accidently killed animals off the road!!!!!!! He made enough off his illegal art he should have enough stashed to go to other countries and clean up the more exoctic road kill.
Part of his eventual release agreement should be doing public speaking on why it's wrong to harm endangered species. He should not be paid to do this either!!
I am an Artist I did nothing wrong. I support endangered species and illegal trafficking laws. It is Art and I am a dumb ass and was making money till you all ruined it for me. For me an artist !!
Guys is whacko.
The guy is a savage. Who would buy this garbage? An "artist" my ass. Destroy his business and make him do community service for years at an animal sanctuary. I don't expect this pompous, pseudo-intellectual, oaf to change but at least he would be forced to serve a species instead of cutting it into pieces to sell to other pompous, pseudo-intellectual oafs.
Excellent point, skrewdworld. What could be more artistic than a living, breathing creature???
I understand why he stands by his art. Did you see the photograph of the animal he had created? Did you find yourself looking at each distinct part? Wondering what the whole animal looked like? Here is a man who has drawn more attention to the plight of these animals than anyone else alive. His artistry may, in the end, do far more to help save multitudes more of these animals than the ones who died to further his cause. While his conviction is understandable and suitable, it may also be an example of extreme selflessness as opposed to the perceived selfishness, for one man's love of animals.
Rick's Real: I'm not sure what you would define extreme selflessness as, but this man is a hypocrite in every sense of the word. Someone who states that he supports the government's work in the pursuing of sellers of illegal animal parts, yet purchases animals and has them killed for his use of said parts because he is not a seller but a buyer, views himself as beyond the law. That sounds pretty selfish to me. Furthermore, a respectable artist would have been able to fashion such sculptures out of imitation parts, made to look just as real as the actual animal parts themselves. Creating every tiny hair and detail from scratch, spending that kind of time on the look of authenticity, would have made this artist's work hold some real value, and would have made him someone to truly admire and pay attention to. THEN he would have been able to talk about his "cause."
Does anyone know how the dangers of genetic manipulation in our food pertains to this?
control freak
20 months is not enough and he is the worst kind of criminal, knowing he is selecting a creature that will be slain and sent to him.
That is not art. It is disgusting. Anyone who buys his disgusting creations is as much a barbarian as he is.
I suggest that he and his clients be stuffed and put on display.
worst kind of criminal? lol. funny
So an "artist" carves ivory tusks to illustrate the evils of elephant poaching... can you say rationalization! This is the worst kind of evil because it dresses up in the shiny bright garments of self serving phony righteous indignation!
rmann81, what about this do you find so amusing? I have a pretty good sense of humor and I don't find the story or these posts one darn bit funny. Or you either for that matter. What this man has been doing is completely disgusting, doesn't call any one's attention to anything but his gross behavior. The sentence he received is far too light and I agree with other posters, put his clients and the gallery owners in jail too. The crap he has been doing isn't any better than the vain, stupid women who wear the skins of dead animals on their backs and call it beauty. Too bad that's not illegal too.
Yeah such a danger to the world. Lockz him up and throwz away the key.
Disturbedlibrarian - I believe mann81's intention was to imply that someone calling this guy the "worst kind of criminal" is ridiculous to the point of being funny. Yes, what this so-called "artist" did is horribly wrong, but he is hardly the "worst kind of criminal". If he is, then what are murders, rapists and child molesters? I would think THEY are the worst kind of criminals instead.
I am sure that he's laughing at the statement "Worst Kind of Criminal". I could think of worse. Mass Murderers, cannibals, rapists, child molesters. Now don't think I'm making-light of this guy's crimes, just use some sense when you talk. People make too many statements with their heart instead of their head.
I love the hypocracy of "I'm not a criminal, I'm an artist." Sounds like the sort of crap that serial killers are sometimes quoted as saying. "I only did this to illustrate the problem of man's inhumanity to man." Wow, based in Miami, just like Dexter! Love the irony. What a major d-bag! Didn't say if sentence was toward the low end of the guidelines. Sounds like it. If so, what a shame.
JanB-475480 ..(#3)..."20 months is not enough and he is the worst kind of criminal, knowing he is selecting a creature that will be slain and sent to him."
Yeah, yeah and President Obama selected the 2 creatures he wasn't going to have slain and served up in The WhiteHouse on Thanksgiving....The others weren't so lucky........MMMmmmm..... Turrrrrkey......
Turkeys are not endangered species.
Mike is not an intellectual.
Betty @ 1, Another 1 @ 2 and JanB @ 3 - ALL GREAT POSTS AND VOTED UP. Agreed on all three.
This is not art and anyone who buys this crap must have rocks in their head. I can't believe he has earned $80K. I'm in the wrong biz.
Your car is a work of art.
Thank you very much. Few people view the automobile as "art" and really don't bother to consider the time and effort that goes into the designs and just view them merely as a conveyance. Nothing more, sadly. IMHO, vehicles are great works of artistry.
I must also confess (with great sadness - more than you'll ever know) that the 1976 Cadillac Eldorado convertible featured in my avatar does not belong to me.
Well thats too bad, it's a beaut. Have a 1920 roadster that were going to restore and I think it will be a work of art. CArs today don't have the beauty and style the older ones do. People would be better served to go to just about any car show across the country rather than buy this guys stuff!!!!!
Pity. It's a lovely job of restoration. Some of those old cars look better after being tinkered w/ & customized by an enthusiest than they did just coming off the assembly line way back when. If I had the space & time, I think I would like to restore old station wagons. Or customize a hearse. Wouldn't that just be too cool? I saw a baby blue one once. Or--don't laugh--a post 1970 Plymoth Valiant. My 1st car started out as a '73 Plymoth Valiant----by the time it finally wore out, it was a '72-'73-'74 Valiant.
And whatever happened to metallic paint jobs? You never see them anymore.
As to this self-proclaimed "artist": yes, you are a criminal, & you're just deluding yourself. Or reaching for an excuse for doing something you know is wrong.
Much thanks, guys!!! ☺
He doesn't seem to realize that by being part of the market for endangered animals, he's contributing to their destruction. It doesn't matter why he was purchasing and selling endangered animal body parts, the point is people were hunting and killing these animals so they could sell the parts. He was a buyer. Then he resold the sculptures for a profit.
The people who bought his "art" should be arrested as well.
MSpielman, Oh but he DOES realize what he's doing - he just doesn't care. What he cares about is making money.
Wow, I thought Maplethorp was an a--!
At least he didn't kill anything. There are all kinds of pornography.
Only common decency and good taste, both of which are subjective ...
He participated in and profited from the death of endangered species. Even if he didn't pull the trigger, he is an accessory. What kind of a person dismembers creatures,reassembles them into monsters, then calls it "art"? Think about it? It is depraved.
Oh, the (horrible) humanity.
what a horrible waste of such beautiful creatures. i hope all of his sold artwork is located and impounded. glad he is doing jail time at least.
hey ! he didn't kill them, they were indanger anyway.
He may not have killed them, but by acquiring the body parts he's encouraging the poachers to go out and kill more wildlife. It's the same situation with illegal drugs; it's the drug users that encourage the drug dealers to traffic drugs.
That's like saying that John Gotti was really a murderer. After all, he didn't really kill anyone, all he did was put out contracts on their lives.
Moron.
He created or added to a market for endangered animal parts---like the men who buy powdered rhino horn for virility---& gave people an incentive to go out & poach.
harry, any bright ideas as to WHY these animals are endangered in the first place? Just what they need:
one more human being using them for spare parts in his 'artwork". Habitat loss, poaching, illegal pet trade, experimentation, pollution, climate change, bush meat collection etc aren't enough to push a species off the face of the earth? We need him and his "artwork" too?
oh ! come on he did his best to preserve what was left of these animals and in doing so he removed them from being in danger and made them into art for everyone to enjoy. there is another wonderful artist that does this with people.
Nothing, absolutely nothing is more gross then Bodies… The Exhibition. The grim reality is that Premier Exhibitions has profited from displaying the remains of individuals who may have been tortured and executed in China.
I wondered about that too since all the people displayed seemed very young. RIP. I spent my life studying the human form and have concluded there is nothing more beautiful in all of creation. I am sorry for the way they were treated but was very thankful to have been able to study the way they were presented. I only hope some good came of the exhibit and that others who never experienced the marvels of the human body as I have been privledged to do learned atleast a little how marvelous beings we truly are....
But I thought anything was okay in the name of "art"!!
20 months? Do the world a favor and either lock him up for a longer period of time!
Artists can be utterly narcissistic - what a hypocrite
lock this mexican piece of @!$%# up and then stuff his own ass.
i suspect he is probably Cuban, but hopefully they did check to make sure he was legal?
I'll never understand our justice system. He should have been sentenced to work at some sort of animal rescue, wildlife organization or zoo......something related to caring for and rehabilitating animals. He certainly did get off easy. A large donation of what he was paid for these 'creations' would have been appropriate. These aren't sculptures, they are cut and paste. Reminds me of my daughter's 6th grade animal ani-bets project. Pick a letter and draw a non existent animal and give it a name using the letter.
First off I really like your opinion on justice (not letting someone off easy, nor putting them in hell but have them make up for what they did). But I must disagree that "this isn't a sculpture", that you can't compare rogue taxidermy (using various animal parts to make an imaginary being) to "cut and paste". Regular Taxidermy itself isn't easy, oftentimes the result can come out looking terrible, let alone using animal parts to create a realistic looking, imaginary animal. Not saying I agree with what he did, but it's not that simple.
Should Ku Klux Klansmen be sentenced to work at Haitian orphanages? I don't want the creep anywhere near living, breathing animals, or dead ones for that matter.
Well have to disagree Rlquall. He'd be supervised and not get a chance to harm any creature. Type of sentencing might hit home with the jerk more than anything else. And if actually helping injured and endangered creatures doesn't get thru I doubt anything else except a HUGE fine will. If he screwed it up the service could be changed to cleaning up road kill without getting to keep their parts.
Point well taken.
I’m not against taxidermy, but I am against poached animals (assuming these were poached rather than bred in captivity) being used for Taxidermy. But for those of you saying “this isn’t art”, I must disagree; just because something is morally wrong to you, doesn’t make it something else. Art, contrary to what society usually thinks, is both very competitive and even harsh (hence why alot of great artists usually seem to be scumbags. So like it or not, Taxidermy is art. It takes time, skill and imagination to create and perhaps the best and most interesting form of taxidermy is rogue taxidermy (i.e using various dead animals to create a
unique, fictitious being). Again, I want to remind you that I’m against poached animals being used for taxidermy but I will openly say that though his methods for obtaining the animals are questionable, that sculpture looks amazing.
randomperson, I am in full agreement with you that taxidermy is an art and while de Molina may have great skills, I am most hesitant in referring to his finished products as art. I find this most distasteful but that is just my opinion and I offer it with respect to your opinion.
Were Nazi lampshades made out of the tanned skins of Jews art? This is only a little short of that!
Rlquall: So you really think this is "only a little short" of "Nazi lampshades made out of the tanned skins of Jews"? That is a ridiculous statement. Do you also believe that anyone who eats a burger or steak is committing an act that is only a little short of what Dahmer did? You know, kill and eat his human victims. I think his was a horrible crime too, but lets not lose our heads and make totally inappropriate comparisons. Do you value all humans the same as animals, or only Jews?
@chefaz It is art! Not all art is meant to create beautiful feelings. Many artists create art to repulse others about issues, ie: Arneson's The Three Generals, Goya's The Hanging Tree and The Third of May, 1808. While I can't say that this was his intent, the fact that he was allowed to get away with his violations by selling his art only rewarded the use of endangered species in his sculptures. The patrons are as much to blame as the artist. Who knows, it may have been a potential client who tipped off the agents.
He did??? Looks to me like he was caught, I'm VERY happy to say.
I happen to be a great lover of art. Calling something "art" doesn't necessarily make it so. Destruction of living, breathing creatures to fashion "art" makes zero sense to me. You're entitled to your opinion just as I am entitled to mine.
If he really was trying to make a point regarding endangered species, there are many, many other ways in which this could have been accomplished WITHOUT killing animals who are already endangered.
good point chefaz-both parties suk-think your going a little bit overboard with your reply to Rlquall. I think your twisting the meaning of the post. Don't beleive he's disvaluing any one race or any animals. Don't need to go looking for a fight over it.
BothParties:
No, I value almost all humans, except murderers I suppose, above nearly all animals, and I'm not a PETA-ist, but killing endangered species, animals that may never exist again, is just a little below murder in my book. Would you feel any better if I told you that I would equally detest and resent Nazis skinning Romy, Jehovah's Witnesses, or homosexuals, since I would? Even though they went all-out to exterminate these groups and others as well, don't think that they were as obsessed with preserving them as "souvenirs" to my knowledge.
ART is in the eye and mind of artist and/or the observer.
The taxpayers of Los Angeles County are being scammed out of umpteen million dollars to transport a 300 ton rock from Riverside to Los Angeles County Museum of Art. WHY? it is art.
Then there was the "artist" who put his feces in hermetically sealed cans and sold them, for thousands of dollars, as works of art.
Ergo, who is to say what is art and what is crap. The second example is definately crap.
I've always said that if someone put $hit on a stick along with a price tag, some idiot would come along to buy it.
You've just proven my point!!!
Have a great day!!! ☺
Yeah yeah yeah, when they are caught, always an excuse---he knowingly used these parts-where did he think they came from? I would like to see him pieced together on a wall with all the others that helped secure these
parts and pieces--that is the least they deserve. Put him away for the rest of his life--what he did was not in the name of art-it was for him to get rich--and go after the people that purchased his work for the 80K, and throw the book at them as well--they knew what they were buying-
He should do something with a great white shark. He could jump out of the boat and catch it himself :)
You are part of the problem dumb ass
Seriously ed?? is your comment to schoolyard?? If so lighten up. It was sarcasm. You know, jump in and try to catch the shark=most likely getting eaten by the shark!!!
skrewed,
Thanks for backing me! Ed must not have a sense of humor.
schoolyard-your most certainly welcome!!
Hardly art. Hardly a severe enough sentence.
I hope they are able to track down all his pieces and confiscate them too. In this case the "Johns" certainly should have known better. They deserve to be punished for their incredibly bad taste alone.
I doubt if the buyers were told "This is being created from an endangered species" or that they were looking to buy saying "I want something made from an endangered species". Some of us (I included) think that animals are part of our resources to use as human beings. And don't jump all over me for that statement. People with dogs or cats are using them for companionship. Same thing thing, different degree of use. Now once an animal is protected or endangered, then I agree, it NEEDS protection and shouldn't be
utilizedhunted/destroyed.Back trace where he bought the animals from and send them a small present. A Hellfire missle should do nicely!
That's it????? 20 friggin months? WTF? I give up? laws against animal cruelty exist, laws against animal trafficking exist, against owning, exporting, killing, maiming or otherwise hurting endangered animals exist. BUT nothing is ever enforced - or enforced with any serious consequence that is. This is horrendous on all levels - this so called "self named art", this is criminal - and for this, he gets 20 month? he'll be out in 3 months for good behavior. I have a BFA, I realize art is subjective, in the eye of the beholder to some degree, but this is not art, it is a crime. He should have been punished much more severely for this - for lack of judgement, for poor taste he should get 1,000 lashings with a whip - at the hands of an animal lover (like me!) I'll show this weak mutha, some art! I'll hurt him & then use his blood to make "print on paper" art. hmmm.....
WARNING: Internet Tough Guy. Spreading hate and violence.
Kogified:
This is a federal crime. You do 85% minimum.
Artist? And Ed Gein was a furniture upholsterer.
If Obama was not president this man would have never done this...
WTF does the President have to do with this? Is this a pathetic attempt at sarcasm, or are you one of the lazy, uneducated right wing trolls who blames everything negative on Obama, no matter how far-fetched?
Pretty sure that's a pathetic attempt at sarcasm but sounds like a political derail. Now, of course, had he said that it was Obama's fault, that would be seen as humor ...
That was flamebait, POIAZ.
Let us know when you make it as a stand up comic, Randy.
Not sure if trolling or just stupid.
Randy get over it. Politics have no place in the discussion of this story and your not one bit humorous.
Successful troll.
He should be stuffed.
I reall can't believe anyone would want to buy such a depraved concoction and consider it art. Where do tHey come from?