No Federal or State Laws Against the Use of Live Animals in Art
In 1947 Joseph Beuys iconic performance artwork I Love America and America Loves Me was created. In it, Beuys locked himself in a room with a wild coyote for 8 hours a day for three days straight, with only a blanket of felt between them. Joseph Beuys, I Love America and America Loves me 1947 It is a powerful, heart-pounding performance, one which questioned Americans treatment of its land and people. My first thought when I saw the photos...Did that coyote have water? I will probably never know what happened to that coyote, or how its time in that room with Beuys affected its future. But it leaves me wanting knowledge about its treatment, and who is responsible for an animal when it becomes a test subject for art? There are many laws that interfere with the use of animals in art, for example, endangered species remains are prohibited for being sold. This is meant to discourage the killing of rare animals for the sake of creating art. Something that has been done for