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#155540 10/09/04 11:48 AM
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I was at an art fair recently, and one of the exibits made me take pause to think. The artist raises butterflies, kills them, and arranges them behind glass to create a display. What are your feelings on this?

Marian

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I definitely oppose the type of art that requires the killing of any living creature.

When I was in college, however, I did have a butterfly net and a killing jar for insects which I caught, killed, and and put on a display board. Actually an insect collection was a requirement of the entomology course I was taking so I didn't give much thought to the ethical considerations at that time. Apparently my collection was one of the 'best' as the prof asked if he could keep it.

Besides raising fruit flies just for the heck of it (after using them first in genetics experiments), I also had a 'pet' caged praying mantis in my dorm room which I fed live insects.

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Killing insects for the sake of art? How does that differ from killing insects that we deam to be harmful or a bother in our homes? Because the butterfly is visually appealing, does that make it more valuable to us than say an ant? What about the idea that these butterflies are "raised" for this purpose? Just like cattle are raised for beef to put on our dinner plates? Ranching for art as opposed to ranching for food.

There is a lot of different ways to look at this subject. My personal feelings are that the butterflies beauty is something that many people want to possess. The exposure to these creatures in this form, may "save" wild butterflies from capture because of the "domestic" supply.

I know a few people who will not kill an insect that comes into their home, but capture and release it. Sometimes I will catch and release, other times I just squish. Of course I always tell the insect that, "If you had stayed outdoors, you would have lived." Most often I don't squish spiders (at least not in Alaska, in Arizona I did) as they are great for taking care of the other insects that I don't want in my home.

It does cause one to pause and think about how we view insects. Does beauty make them more valuable, tollerable, important in our lives? Do we discriminate?

My eldest DS had a pet fly when he was about 3 years old. He kept it in his overalls pocket and named it Charlie. The fly for some reason didn't fly away, even when DS held it on his open palm. Of course the short life span of flies made it a "pet for the day". The learning experience he got from that little fly was very valuable. Including it's death. Nature provides so much to us.

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Quote:
Killing insects for the sake of art? How does that differ from killing insects that we deam to be harmful or a bother in our homes? Because the butterfly is visually appealing, does that make it more valuable to us than say an ant?
Interesting comments, Rose. Definitely there do seem to be different reactions due to the 'visually appealing' appearance of the butterfly. Sad to say, the same thing often occurs with the way humans view individuals who they perceive as not 'visually appealing'.

Offhand I'd say the only insects that I do kill these days are mosquitoes or ticks, and that is simply because of the diseases they may be carrying. I actually consider most insects to be 'visually interesting', although many wouldn't fall into the 'visually beautiful' category that butterflies are part of.

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I personally don't like it. I also don't think raising animals for meat is quite the same as raising them for art. I don't like raising animals for fur either. When a cow is raised for human consumption, there are also 1000 other uses for it's body parts. I kind of feel using butterflies for art is a rather frivolous cause for raising them and killing them.

Maybe I'm being contradictory here, but I just don't think it's right to kill something for its beauty as opposed to its actual usefulness. Some hunters kill deer only for the antlers and leave the body lay. Others kill deer for the meat. Totally different thing to me. This type of thing happens all over the world. Elephants are killed for their ivory, exotic parrots for their feathers (so a woman's hat can look pretty), etc. It's a shame when the thing that makes them so attractive is the thing that brings about their death.

I met an artist at a show I was in and she used real butterflies in handmade books. She set their bodies in a little metal plate and then covered them with polyeurethane. She told me she only used dead butterflies she found in her yard or elsewhere. Hopefully that was true.


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No I can't see killing them just for that purpose. I wouldn't teach my kids that is ok.
I guess I have done well with my kids in this way. Even though they are leery of insects (as I am), we only kill harmful ones such as mosquitoes, fleas and ticks.
Personally I am very afraid of spiders, but I let them be, they have their purpose.

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Well Brenda, mosquitoes, fleas and ticks have their purpose too...just not ones favorable to us.

As for raising butterflies and other animals for decorative purposes I personally find no problem with that. It's what that animal was raised for - it's purpose in this life. Many facilites, buffalo & mink farms etc, also find uses for the leftovers from furring. Such as making fertilizers via cremation, selling the bones, meat etc. That would be the smart thing to do.
Dont get me wrong, Im not for mass production farms that feed their livestaock all kinds of hormones and antibiotics and keep them in little crates.As for 'finding' dead butterflies in her yard...I've found very few dead butterflies and moths in my life, and they are usually beaten up and broken.


per aspera ad astra: Through rough ways to the stars...

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I also find issue with the woman who said she only uses butterflies she finds dead in the yard. I don't think you could make a living with such poor pickings.

As for "it's what that animal was raised for", I wonder what we, as humans, would think about someone raising children just so that they can be killed and put on display behind glass, all for art. Like Rose said, "do we discriminate?".

This is an interesting debate and it makes me happy that we can discuss such a hot topic without resorting to name calling like so many other boards I've been on. Everyone has their own opinion and it warms my heart that everyone feels comfortable expressing theirs here. :love:

Marian

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Well, the artist didn't make her living with the "found" butterflies. She had about 15 or so peices with the butterflies in them. The rest didn't. I have found several butterflies pretty well in-tact along roadways and in our yard. I found one in my husband's workshop, saved it, scanned it, and use it on my business cards. When we were driving along the Blue Ridge Parkway in NC, we saw several laying along the road, but never stopped to pick them up. Maybe I should have, then I could have butterfly art too. Or not.


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I wonder what we, as humans, would think about someone raising children just so that they can be killed

You find me another species that raises its young so that they can kill it for any other purpose...then Ill think bout retracting my statement. However, there are several species that 'farm' other species for food. There are ants that protect aphids so that they can use them as a food source.

Course, there is the controversy about creating embryos in labs in order to harvest stem cells for alzheimers in addition to using fetus's from abortions. But I have a feeling that is another debate all unto itself.


per aspera ad astra: Through rough ways to the stars...

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