John Sanger (President of SFAI)
Did SFAI BREAK THE LAW??? / Protest
to SFAI (various) / Protest to French Consulate / Protest
to SF Hotel Tax Fund
Protest to Chamber of Commerce / Protest to Other
Sponsors / Protest to San Francisco Mayor & Supervisors
Protest to the Governor and other agencies / Request
SFAI's accreditation be revoked / Press Release from SFAI 3/26/08
Meeting at SFAI Monday 3/31/08 / My Final
Thoughts
Please read an essay here written by Matt Thomas of In Defense of Animals, in response to an accusation by Chris Bratton, SFAI President, accusing IDA and other animal lovers of terrorism and demagogery. Apparently SFAI still doesn't "get" that most ordinary citizens are outraged by acts of vicious cruelty to animals being passed off as "art."
While I have your attention, please join 1.5 million people world-wide and sign this petition:
http://www.petitiononline.com/13031953/
This is to protest the selection of Guillermo Vargas of Costa Rica to represent his country at an international art exposition. He tied up a street dog in a gallery and deliberately starved it to death as "art." And his government selected him AFTER that to represent Costa Rica.Update: After receiving threats of violence against specific staff members and their families, SFAI has canceled both the exhibit, and the public forum that was scheduled for Monday March 31st. I'm sorry it happened this way, because threats of violence are no way to effect meaningful change, and because it allows SFAI to marginalize the opponents of this exhibition as the "lunatic fringe" - but I'm gratified that this stirred such passion in the citizenry, that people shook themselves out of their apathy and took action. Thank you, everybody who cared. May those poor animals rest in peace. ~ Alexandra Fiona Dixon
(written late March 2008)
As a life-long San Francisco resident, I was sickened to learn yesterday that the SF Art Institute has mounted an unspeakable exhibit - one that by no possible stretch of the imagination could be considered "art" by any person with a moral compass. I am referring to Adel Abdessemed's "Don't Trust Me" installation: six video monitors displaying the "artist" bludgeoning six animals to death with a sledgehammer.
This is not art, it is not thought-provoking, it is not controversial; it is merely six snuff films in which innocent animals are tortured for shock value.
I feel diminished as a human being to think that such abominable acts could not only be filmed, but then displayed and celebrated. That this exhibition has found a welcome in San Francisco, the City of Saint Francis, is particularly repulsive to me.
Michael Vick is in federal prison for two years for killing animals; San Francisco throws a cocktail party for Adel Abessemed for doing the same thing. What is wrong with this picture? Please join me in condemning this as being unworthy of ANY city, much less ours.
This was posted in the comments on sfgate.com in response to Matier & Ross's column about this issue in the Chronicle on 3/26/08 (please go there and make a comment - their column was also about the Olympic torch so the comments cover both issues):
"The exhibit, "Don't Trust Me," at the San Francisco Art Institute's is a nuisance
under Cal Civ Code 3505 (2007). Part (a) states that "[t]he exhibition of any
motion picture, if any intentional killing of, or cruelty to, ... an animal
is shown in the motion picture and such intentional killing of, or cruelty to,
... an animal actually occurred in the production of the motion picture for
the purpose of such production, is a nuisance, which shall be enjoined, abated,
and prevented." If the exhibit is reopened, you may contact the city attorney
or the district attorney's office at http://www.sfgov.org/site/mainpages_form.asp?id=18611
to have it shut down. You may also contact the California Attorney General to
report the nuisance exhibit."
You can protest directly to John M. Sanger, President of SFAI's Board of Trustees, in a variety of ways (see below).
Perhaps you'll have better luck than I did.
I telephoned Mr. Sanger at his law firm Tuesday afternoon. When I asked him if he was President of the SFAI, he said yes. I then began to ask "The institute that is exhibiting...?" and he cut me off with these words "I am not interested in discussing the exhibition," and hung up on me.
John Sanger (President of SFAI)
415.693.9300 (office)
415.929.8333 (home)
415.749.4549 (SFAI)
415.693.9322 (FAX - office)
home: 3600 Washington Street San Francisco, CA 94118
office: Sanger & Osborn One Embarcadero Center Twelfth Floor San Francisco,
CA 94111-3617
SFAI: 800 Chestnut Street, San Francisco 94133
or 2565 Third Street, San Francisco 94107
You can protest directly to the various departments of the SFAI here.
The Board and Trustees of SFAI are listed here.
I will make their contact information available on this page after I've done the research.
3/27/08 - here are a few:
| Roselyne C. Swig 3710 Washington Street San Francisco, CA 94118 |
Paule Anglim |
Howard Oringer |
|
Karen Kubin |
The Cultural Services department of the French Consulate is a sponsor of this exhibit. Please voice your protest to them.
Consulate General of France
540 Bush Street, San Francisco, CA 94108
Tel: 415-397-4330
Fax: 415-433-8357
PROTEST TO SAN FRANCISCO HOTEL TAX FUND / GRANTS FOR THE ARTS
The San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund supported this exhibit with city tax revenues. You can find email and other links to protest here.
PROTEST TO SAN FRANCISCO'S CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
People are not going to want to stay in San Francisco if their hotel taxes go to support animal cruelty.
sfalk@sfchamber.com
info@ ssfchamber.com
PROTEST TO OTHER SPONSORS OF THE EXHIBIT
Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts
info@warholfoundation.org
Pamela Clapp
Program Director
The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts
65 Bleecker Street, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10012
Peter Norton Family Foundation
(yes, the guy who created Norton Utilities and Norton Anti-Virus and made a
bazillion dollars when he sold it to Symantec)
"We want to have fun and we want you to have fun too." With those words spoken
in 1989 to newly hired Executive Director Anne Etheridge, Peter Norton set the
tone for the Peter Norton Family Foundation.
(and killing animals is fun?)
225 Arizona Aveue Suite 350
Santa Monica, Ca 90401
310-576-7700
Bob and Betty Klausner
2100 Pacific Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94115-1546
David Zwirner (tons
of email addresses on this link)
525 West 19th Street
New York, NY 10011
212 727 2070
212 727 2072 (fax)
PROTEST TO SAN FRANCISCO MAYOR AND SUPERVISORS
You can find addresses for the Mayor, Board of Supervisors, and other City officials here, or see the individual links below:
Mayor Gavin Newsom
City Hall, Rom 200
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 554-6141
(415) 554-6160 (fax)
gavin.newsom@sfgov.org
Supervisor Aaron Peskin
City Hall
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 244
San Francisco, Ca 94102-4689
(415) 554-7450 - voice
(415) 554-7454 - fax
Aaron.Peskin@sfgov.org
Aides: Rose Chung & David Noyola
Supervisor Jack McGoldrick
City Hall
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 244
San Francisco, Ca 94102-4689
(415) 554-7410 - voice
(415) 554-7415 - fax
Jake.McGoldrick@sfgov.org
Aides: Pooja Jhunjhunwala & Stephanie Tucker
SupervisorMichela Alioto-Pier
City Hall
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 244
San Francisco, Ca 94102-4689
(415) 554-7752 - voice
(415) 554-7843 - fax
Michela.Alioto-Pier@sfgov.org
Aides: Sarah Ballard & Catherine Stefani
Supervisor Carmen Chu
City Hall
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 244
San Francisco, Ca 94102-4689
(415) 554-7460 - voice
(415) 554-7432 - fax
Carmen.Chu@sfgov.org
Aide: Colleen Crowley & Katy Tang
Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi
City Hall
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 244
San Francisco, Ca 94102-4689
(415) 554-7630 - voice
(415) 554-7634 - fax
Ross.Mirkarimi@sfgov.org
Aides: Boris Delepine, Vallie Brown, Rick Galbreath
Supervisor Chris Daly
415-554-7970
chris.daly@sfgov.org
Supervisor Sean Eslbernd
City Hall
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 244
San Francisco, Ca 94102-4689
(415) 554-6516 - voice
(415) 554-6546 - fax
Sean.Elsbernd@sfgov.org
Aides: Rebekah Krell & Cammy Blackstone
Supervisor Bevan Dufty
City Hall
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 244
San Francisco, Ca 94102-4689
(415) 554-6968 - voice
(415) 554-6909 - fax
Bevan.Dufty@sfgov.org
Aides: Boe Hayward & Nicolas M. King
Supervisor Tom Ammiano
City Hall
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 244
San Francisco, Ca 94102-4689
(415) 554-5144 - voice
(415) 554-6255 - fax
Tom.Ammiano@sfgov.org
Aides: Zach Tuller & Pilar Schiavo
Supervisor Sophie Maxwell
City Hall
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 244
San Francisco, Ca 94102-4689
(415) 554-7670 - voice|
(415) 554-7674 - fax
Sophie.Maxwell@sfgov.org
Aides: Alice Guidry & Jon Lau
Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval
City Hall
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 244
San Francisco, Ca 94102-4689
Gerardo.Sandoval@sfgov.org
General Information: (415) 554-6975
TDD/TTY (415) 554-5227
Fax: (415) 554-6979
Legislative Aides:
Nick Kinsey (415) 554-6978
Luke Klipp (415) 554-6977
Media Inquires:
Luke Klipp (415) 554-6977
REQUEST THAT SFAI'S ACCREDITATION BE REVOKED
Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities
Western Association of Schools and Colleges
985 Atlantic Avenue, Suite 100
Alameda, CA 94501
Phone: (510) 748-9001
Fax: (510) 748-9797
http://www.wascsenior.org/wasc/
www.wascweb.org
National Association of Schools of Art and Design
11250 Roger Bacon Drive, Suite 21
Reston, VA 20190-5248
Telephone: 703-437-0700
Fax: 703-437-6312
info@arts-accredit.org
http://nasad.arts-accredit.org
PROTEST TO THE GOVERNOR AND OTHER AGENCIES
916-445-2841 (select the "hot issue" option)
National Endowment for the Arts
202-682-5400 Victoria Hutter
fax 202 682 5611
"an independent federal agency supporting artists and arts organizations and
bringing the arts to all Americans" awarded them a $40,000 (our tax dollars)
Learning in the Arts Grant for Children and Youth
PRESS RELEASE FROM SFAI 3/26/08
“The Current Exhibition Has Been Temporarily Suspended
Adel Abdessemed’s exhibition Don’t Trust Me, which opened in the Walter and
McBean Galleries on Wednesday, 19 March, has received numerous public responses
concerning the nature of some of its content. In view of this massive response
and because we wish to acknowledge many of the concerns expressed, we are temporarily
suspending the exhibition.
SFAI would like to make it very clear that the Abdessemed exhibition is an instance of a long-standing and serious commitment, on SFAI’s part, to reflection on and free and open discussion of contemporary art. It is a typical feature of our educational mission to encourage our students and the wider public critically to think about and assess the world they inhabit. The video images in Abdessemed’s exhibition are images of events that took place—and regularly take place—in the real world. Their being depicted in video by Abdessemed is part of a long representational tradition, in Western art and beyond. It goes without saying that the motives underlying that representational tradition have often been to criticize and to question the practices of the larger culture of which that tradition is a part. It is of course up to each beholder of Abdessemed’s work to decide for him- or herself whether, where, and how his work fits into that tradition.
SFAI readily acknowledges that, unlike other representational forms (e.g., painting or photography), the medium of video can imbue such images with a particularly powerful, “real-time” quality—a quality that some people may find disturbing. Because we take such potential discomfort seriously, we posted a disclaimer warning at the front of our galleries in which we indicated the nature of the subject matter of the exhibition”.
Please join Director of Exhibitions and Public Programs Hou Hanru (the exhibition’s curator), Dean of Academic Affairs Okwui Enwezor, and SFAI Professors John Rapko and Tony Labat in a public discussion of the exhibition at 12noon on Monday, March 31, in the Lecture Hall on SFAI’s 800 Chestnut Street campus.
Please, forward this link to:
- media outlets
- animal-lovers
- San Franciscans
- friends
- animal welfare organizations
- veterinarians
- animal hospitals
- churches and synagogues
- community groups
- civic leaders
- your elected representatives
Let us warn our friends not to send their children to this institution. I would
not want MY children to be instructed in "art" by an institute whose concept
of art includes celebrating the graphic murder of innocent animals.
"One can measure the moral progress of a nation by looking at how it treats its animals." ~ Mahatma Gandhi
"Evil flourishes when good men do nothing." ~ Edmund Burke
We must fight against the spirit of unconscious cruelty with which we treat the animals. Animals suffer as much as we do. True humanity does not allow us to impose such sufferings on them. It is our duty to make the whole world recognize it. Until we extend our circle of compassion to all living things, humanity will not find peace. ~Albert Schweitzer, The Philosophy of Civilization
If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men. ~St. Francis of Assisi
Please, take action! Thank you,
Alexandra Fiona Dixon
San Francisco
(a) (dot) (dixon) (at) (aya) (dot) (yale) (dot) (edu)
The Psychopath who dreamed this up
x