Cruel Art: Intersections between Art, Animals, and Morality

Abstract

ABSTRACT The process of making art, art itself, and the effects of art can be cruel to those who are, often unwillingly or by virtue of being unable to consent, a part of the process. Even though the thought of restricting, controlling, or censoring art is frowned upon, many would agree that cruelty ought to be avoided, condemned, and discouraged. To frame my discussion, I use the term “cruel art”. I define cruel art as any artistic endeavour (for example installation art, performance art, literary works, paintings, sculptures, etc.) that harms non-human animals physically or psychologically. In this article, I firstly examine the notion of cruelty. Thereafter I differentiate between three types of cruel art. I argue that cruel art ought to be avoided as a moral imperative.