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The
New Art Zoo
by
Ron Zito
"The
painters have paid too much attention to the ism and not enough to
the painting." -- William Carlos Williams (Williams 71)
Imagine
one morning you get an urge to go to the zoo. You've heard all
about the brand new animal-friendly enclosures that have been
built, and the new exotic species that have taken up residence at
the zoo. With great anticipation you pay your money and walk in
through the new entrance. Directly in front of you is the House of
Cats, where all the lions, tigers, and jaguars should be lolling
about in the morning sun. But for some reason there are no big
cats in sight. Instead they've been replaced with metal and
cardboard cutouts that barely resemble the real thing, or don't
resemble them at all. A sign in front of the enclosure tells you: "The Zoo has embarked on an exciting new program to educate the
viewing public. The Zoo will now feature real animals instead of
the fake ones we've been showing you for years. Replicas can
still be seen in some older sections of the zoo."
Everywhere
you look the animals that you have grown accustomed to seeing are
nowhere to be found. As you walk around the zoo you notice that
other people are just as perplexed as you are. Families with
children are especially hard-put. Mothers try to comfort their
bawling toddlers as they push their strollers around Primate
Pastiche, where the entertaining, rambunctious, smelly denizens
have been replaced with clean, shiny metal boxes. You spot another
sign that states: "The gorillas, orangutans, macaques, and
golden tamarinds that you were used to seeing were only illusions.
We are confident that opened-minded visitors will develop a taste
for the real animals that the Zoo has recently acquired to replace
the outdated representations."
You
also notice that an increasing number of people are converging
around the old animal cages where the replicas are now kept. The
zoo administration has decided to have a special exhibit of animal
fakes to satisfy the increasing demands from their financial
officers.
When
your day at the zoo comes to an end, you return home questioning
the whole experience. You miss the old familiar fakes, but you
have to admit, some of the real animals are interesting and
well-crafted. You decide to have an open mind about the whole
thing and try to understand and enjoy the new animals. So you
watch all the new nature programs on PBS, you attend lectures at
the zoo, you even try to read the latest zoo literature, confident
that your new knowledge will overcome your confusion and
misgivings about the new zoo. But enlightenment does not come
easily. You encounter statements such as this: "Zoos of the
future will have no need for actual animals. Visitors will be able
to visualize the animals in their enclosures." And this: "The
idea that a zoo should be an exclusive province of animals is an
elitist throwback to Western thought. Other forms of life such as
viruses, bacteria, and rocks should also be included in zoo
collections." And this: "Even the idea of a zoo is outmoded.
We need to do away with traditional enclosures. The era of zoos is
over." And then you wake up from your dream.
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