A dead dog that can be turned inside out so that it's a dead cat, is this art or simply sick? The so-called Popple is an exhibit at a Rotterdam art fair and it has been stirring up a storm of response in the Dutch media. By Andy Clark

The dog/cat doll is an exhibit at a leading art fair opening in Rotterdam today and it has been stirring up a storm of response in the Dutch media.
 
Animal rights activist have condemned it as disgusting and the political party representing animal rights in the Dutch parliament is calling for a ban on using animals in what it calls 'extreme art.'
 
The artist who has come up with the reversible pet is Katinka Simonse and she works under the name of Tinkebell.
 
Protest art

She says the idea of the dog/cat doll is to start a discussion about how we treat animals and that it should be seen as a protest against the push to create perfect pets via breeding and genetic manipulation.
 
But for Parliamentarian Esther Ouwehand the artwork goes too far: "disgusting, it passes the boundaries of what is acceptable," she told the Algemeen Dagblad newspaper.
 
Despite the criticism, the organisers of the art exhibition in Rotterdam say they will not ban the dog/cat doll.
 
Popple

The artist calls her work a Popple - the name of a series of brightly coloured children's dolls sold in the US in the 1980s. They too could be turned inside out.
 
Tinkebell is no stranger to controversy several years ago she killed her own cat and made it into a handbag. This caused international uproar and resulted in her receiving hate mail from around the world.
 
She also once put day old chicks through a paper shredder.
 
Just last month one of her exhibits in Amsterdam was raided by animal welfare workers. She had hundreds of hamsters running around for hours on end in brightly coloured plastic balls.
 
The welfare officers took the hamsters away for their own protection. The artist was furious and a court case into the legality of the raid is ongoing.
 
Shock tactics

Asked about why she employs such shock tactics Tinkebell says she simply wants to start a discussion and of course that it is art. If people get angry then her answer is, she told the NRC newspaper, 'don't shoot the messenger.'
 
The Art Rotterdam International Art Fair runs until Sunday, February 10

Visit Expatica's full listing of Art exhibitions in the NL.

7 February 2008 

[Copyright Radio Netherlands]