Bitches... puppy mill dogs... prostitution... art...
Jennifer Weigel performed Bitch for the Women's Caucus for Art Women & Environment show at Florissant-Valley Community College. From the reception on March 5, 2009 through the end of the month, she spent regular gallery hours in the gallery cramped in a large dog crate. This amounted to being there roughly four to six hours a day, Monday - Saturday, minus spring break, for a total of over 70 hours, most of which was spent reading feminist literature and art discourse. Weigel journaled her experiences and reactions on her blog.
http://chaoticblacksheep.blogspot.com/search/label/bitch
This performance was initially created to reflect on women's roles in society (mothers, sex objects, bitches) while simultaneously raising awareness of puppy mill dogs endure. Weigel placed herself in the dog crate in order to add a human element, so that viewers were more directly confronted with what puppy mill dogs endure by being able to project themselves into that situation.
Many people do not know where that "puppy in the window" at the pet store came from, but in all likelihood it came from a puppy mill. Puppy mill dogs are essentially prostituted; their value linked to their breeding ability (sexuality). When a bitch can no longer breed she is considered to have outlived her usefulness. Many are auctioned off or killed after years of bearing litter after litter of puppies with no rest between breeding cycles. Puppies that are not sold while they are young typically meet the same fate by becoming breeding dogs, and some are inbred to close relations, even siblings.
Missouri unfortunately boasts many puppy mills, and the legal conditions in which these animals can be kept are poor, with dogs spending their entire lives confined in wire cages, sometimes outdoors and exposed to the elements, and breeders keeping hundreds and even thousands of livestock. There is a proposition set to appear on the November ballot that will improve those conditions by requiring that breeding dogs have access to a dog run on a regular basis and limiting the number of breeding dogs that may be kept.
Jennifer Weigel
St. Louis, MO, USA
http://jenniferweigelart.com/
http://chaoticblacksheep.blogspot.com/
http://artiseverywhere-chaoticblacksheep.blogspot.com/
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