Like Abbi said, both animals are showing extreme emotions of anxiety. This is one thing that i noticed, but seemed to have overlooked. When looking at this piece, the safety of the animals was not a thought that ran through my mind, and being an animal lover, i would take a chance and say that most others don't either.
"Cantor’s Deeparture (2005) is as severely economical in its setup as it is intense in its poetic potential. It involves two unwitting players, a wolf and a deer, in perhaps the most unlikely and artificial environment in which they can find themselves—a white-cube gallery. The artist shot the animals in 16mm film with a seemingly unforgiving eye, structuring a series of taut close-ups from various angles into a seamlessly looping video. Confounding expectations, the “natural” predator-prey relationship does not play itself out here. Instead, both animals keep their distance from each other and appear in turn tense, confused, exhausted, and dejected, even oblivious. As viewers are gradually roped into emotional engagement with the ultimately unreadable animals, they’re led to wonder if these nonhuman players serve as a blank screen upon which human emotions and psychological attachments are projected."
as Doryun Chong says, the natural predator-prey relationship does not play itself out. This naturally leads me to believe that these animals are experiencing serious psychological reactions to this unfamiliar territory. so the question is no longer "how is this art?' but 'is it this worth it?" can we really harm others for the sake of art?
in the words of Andy Warhol:
"Don't pay any attention to what they write about you. Just measure it in inches."
but art cant just be about attention.
we have got to be aware of the consequences.
although i feel that this piece is art,
the point could have been conveyed in other ways.
http://visualarts.walkerart.org/detail.wac?id=3552&title=acquisitions
http://www.mirceacantor.ro/images2/MirceaCantor_PhilaMuseumArt.pdf
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