Image via Lydia Ohl, Cai Studio and Aspen Art Museum
New York-based artist Cai Guo-Qiang, previously feature for ‘The Ninth Wave’ installation, has created a new work titled ‘Moving Ghost Town’—which consists of three African Sulcata Tortoises that were rescued from an over-crowded enclosure.
As part of his work, Cai has collaborated with a Turtle Conservancy and a veterinarian to mount iPads on the back of the tortoises' shells, which features video footage of their experience in the three local ghost towns in Colorado, filmed by the creatures themselves—they are placed in a conducive environment where the tortoises can roam around freely on the roof garden of The Aspen Art museum.
The installation has sparked a petition by animal rights activists to remove the iPads from the tortoises, as they claim that the shells are sensitive to the weight of the devices. However, veterinarian Dr. Elizabeth Kremzier said in her interview with Apen Daily News, “In my professional opinion, the tortoises have adapted well to their new habitat, and the iPads have not interfered in any way with their natural behavior.”
The exhibition will be held from now through 5 October 2014—find out more about the project here.
Would you consider this work of art to be animal cruelty?
Image via Lydia Ohl, Cai Studio
Image via Lydia Ohl, Cai Studio
Image via Lydia Ohl, Cai Studio
[via The Aspen Art Museum, Fast Co. Design]