The Metropolis

Reviewed: Art by Animals at the Grant Museum - an interesting load of old cobblers

Mike Pollitt | Wednesday 1 February, 2012 17:08

Art by Animals at UCL’s Grant Museum is an exhibition of two halves.

The half dealing with art by apes is a fascinating exploration of human ideas about creativity, artistic interpretation, and the assignation of meaning.

The half dealing with art by elephants is a load of old cobblers.

Let’s start with the elephants. Above is a picture which a human has called “Flower Pot”, by an elephant which a human has called Boon Mee. If you think it looks like a substandard human painting of a flowerpot, it’s because that’s exactly what it is.

You see the elephants creating these pictures live in a sanctuary in Thailand where they are trained to make marks on canvas by their human keepers. The keepers design the paintings beforehand and control the elephant’s movements by pulling on their ears. The elephants are not artists, they’re just glorified paintbrushes.

Nevertheless, these canvasses are then sold online as “elephant art” for sums approaching $500 apiece. We’re supposed to stand back in wonder at these pictures, marvelling at how “talented” the elephants are and how it’s amazing really and “doesn’t it just go to show?”

What it goes to show is that human beings can train animals to perform tasks. And that other human beings will pay for the resulting output. This is neither revelatory nor even interesting.

The ape art, on the other hand, takes us somewhere it’s worth going. According to museum manager Jack Ashby, quoted in the New Scientist here, the apes decide when a piece is “finished” and move on to another one. That is to say they are not doodling ad infinitum. They have a conception of completeness. They also make pretty patterns.

Here’s the video accompanying the exhibition, which runs Mon-Fri 1pm-5pm until 9th March.

What’s on at UCL – Grant Museum
Elephant Art Gallery – Pictures for sale
New Scientist – When animals get arty

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