Hirst Exhibition Killed 9K Butterflies

ANIMAL RIGHTS GROUPS SLAM BRITISH ARTIST

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 15, 2012 12:43 AM CDT

artist Damien Hirst, famous for his works using pickled and dismembered animals, has once again angered animal rights groups—this time for a work that used live creatures. His "In and Out of Love" exhibition at London's Tate Modern allowed visitors to observe the lives of butterflies close up, but more than 9,000 of the insects died during the 23-week exhibition after being trampled or brushed off visitors' clothing, the Telegraphreports. The tropical species used has a life expectancy of nine months in the wild, but most only survived a few days in the Hirst exhibition.

"There would be national outcry if the exhibition involved any other animal, such as a dog," a spokesman for the Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says. "Just because it is butterflies, that does not mean they do not deserve to be treated with kindness." The chief of Butterfly Conservation says the group "is concerned that this work represents a throwaway approach to living creatures and encourages a lack of respect for the environment."

http://www.newser.com/story/155799/hirst-exhibition-killed-9k-butterflies.html

http://iowntheworld.com/blog/?p=153825

Thursday, 21 October 2010

Damien Hirst - Butterflies

Damien Hirst produced another series of artworks that employed exotic butterfly wings adhered to gloss paint. The pieces are inspired by stained-glass windows, and some of them do have an ecclesiastical feel to them.
I'm rather ambivalent about the use of real butterflies in this way, but the point of Damien Hirst is to be provocative and challenging in his work, and they certainly work on that level. I would have to say that they are also rather beautiful in their own way - art museum pieces rather than one on my wall though.

http://poulwebb.blogspot.com/2010/10/damien-hirst-butterflies.html