Categories: Opinion and Editorial

RoadKill Art: Should We Condemn This Form of Art?

AC writer MrsO recently posted an article titled: “Student Turning Roadkill into “Art” by Dressing…..” She expresses her disbelief and outrage at this college student manifesting his (or her) inner spirituality through this form of art. Although we all should respect MrsO´s thoughts, beliefs, and opinions, I think she should do just the same. I do not believe that this college kids is infringing any law nor do I believe (as MrsO proposes) that there should be laws against it. I do not think we should waste public funds on this kind of stuff. I just believe that there are more important things to invest our always scarce public resources.

In another portion of her article MrsO raises the possibility that the college kid has had problems during her upbringing. Maybe (and, I am inclined to think about it) the college kid upbringing has been as normal as anyone else, maybe better than that of many of us.

Art is the expression of the inner feelings and spiritual matter that is inside the artist`s soul. I believe this roadkill art is just another way of expressing feelings and the inner stuff we all have inside. It may be macabre, weird, strange, or outrageous for some people but I believe is as good as any other form of art. As a matter of fact, this “form” of art is not new at all. If you go to Google and type in Roadkill Art you will get 643,000 pages in return. I just did it and a simple observation of the results gives you an idea that this college kids is not the first one on doing this. For example, Jeanie M. (a.k.a. Mouse Girl) purchases dead “feeder” mice, skins them, stuffs them with cotton balls and adorns them in meticulous costumes. Her imagination and taxidermist skill transforms the macabre medium — rodent carcasses — into whimsical, beautiful art. Australian artist Marian Drew takes her inspiration for her art from roadkill. (www.mariandrew.com).

MrsO may have a good point in her analysis regarding the possibility of this form of art on causing accidents when people distracts themselves watching the Roadkill art. But the truth is that you could get distracted by watching a living bird, a living cow, a living pig, or any other living animal for that matter on the road. In this case, should we enact laws to prohibit living animals (if we could ever do that) to be near a road? I think that there may be much more accidents caused by living animals and people getting distracted by watching living animals than the possible accidents that this road kill art could cause.

Everybody has the right to express his (or her) thoughts as they want as long as it is legal and does not produce damages on any other fellow human being. We must learn to tolerate different views and ways of expressing our feelings, emotions, and thoughts. This is the basis of our grandiose human soul.