monkey problem solved for good!

[tree_of_jessie]

i emailled andrew james smith (the artist/creator ov "bad monkey"), asking him about the story that came with that piece. i just got a reply from him! ^.^

Dear Jessica,

Good question. Firstly, your suspicion was right: it was meant as a
metaphor. So, it needn't be true. But it is based on what I believe to be
fact, though it is not listed in any of my psychology books because they may
be too old. I and various friends recall reading about it. Though that makes
it barely more than urban myth, there have been several other experiments
not so dissimilar in the same realm of "imprinting".

The banana would have been considered a "releaser" in 1930's Lorenz
experiments. The story is most reminiscent of some of the sadder experiments
E. H. Hess did in the fifties with chicks & ducklings. But, I don't know
who (if anyone) is truly credited with this particular research. Because its
existence is not crucial to my artwork, I haven't felt obligated to look it
up. Though, if you stumble across it, please let me know.

The image for "Bad Monkey" was one I modified of a photo taken of a
similarly sad monkey named "Zakhar". Reports suggest he was experimented on
and then neglected. He has been housed in the underfunded. Moscow Zoo.

I hope you didn't have money riding on my answer.

Comments

[honeybee17.livejournal.com]

it's nice that he replied ^.^

[littlegirltoast.livejournal.com]

I guess it's cool that he was so candid about it, but it's actually pretty wack that his artistic statement is rendered effectively trite due to his disingenuity.

"intended as a metaphor" in this case seems to mean "I didn't care to research my premises"

[tree-of-jessie.livejournal.com]

oh, you misunderstand
it wasn't his artists' satement. many of the pieces in his show were accompanied by poetry and such.
this was just another accessory
and in this case, i don't think it really matters all that much if it's fact or fiction; he's just making a statement.