NOT SO Cute OR Miraculous when you know the TRUTH behind Elephant Painting. Via:Hennie Andbob here we are.found this on Scopes.and have copied a piece by the naturalist Dr Desmond morris.the article was updted this year. s zoologist Desmond Morris wrote after he and scientist Richard Dawkins traveled to Thailand in 2008 to investigate the elephant painting phenomenon: So are these endearing mammals truly artistic? The answer, as politicians are fond of saying, is yes and no. Let me describe exactly what happens. A painting session begins with three heavy easels being wheeled into position. On each easel a large piece of white card (30in x 20in) has been fixed underneath a strong wooden frame. Each elephant is positioned in front of her easel and is given a brush loaded with paint by her mahout. He pushes the brush gently into the end of her trunk. The man then stands to one side of his animals neck and watches intently as the brush starts to make lines on the card. Then the empty brush is replaced by another loaded one, and the painting continues until the picture is complete. The elephant then turns towards its audience, bows deeply and is rewarded with bananas. The paintings are then removed from their frames and offered for sale. They are quickly snapped up by people who have been astonished by what they have just witnessed. To most of the members of the audience, what they have seen appears to be almost miraculous. Elephants must surely be almost human in intelligence if they can paint pictures of flowers and trees in this way. What the audience overlooks are the actions of the mahouts as their animals are at work. This oversight is understandable because it is difficult to drag your eyes away from the brushes that are making the lines and spots. However, if you do so, you will notice that, with each mark, the mahout tugs at his elephants ear. He nudges it up and down to get the animal to make a vertical line, or pulls it sideways to get a horizontal one. To encourage spots and blobs he tugs the ear forward, towards the canvas. So, very sadly, the design the elephant is making is not hers but his. There is no elephantine invention, no creativity, just slavish copying. Investigating further, after the show is over, it emerges that each of the so-called artistic animals always produces exactly the same image, time after time, day after day, and week after week. Mook always paints a bunch of flowers, Christmas always does a tree, and Pimtong a climbing plant. Each elephant works to a set routine, guided by her master. The following video clip reveals something of how much an elephant is actually guided by its mahout during the painting process: Other critics contend that not only is the elephant painting phenomenon a misleading show put on to garner money from tourists, but that the animals who participate in it have been abused; therefore, visitors to Thailand should shun the purchase of such works: I was recently sent an email video which shows an elephant painting a picture of an elephant holding a flower over its head and was asked to comment on it. As you may or may not know, I returned home last night after my 7th trip to Chiang Mai, Thailand, where the video was shot. I can tell you with absolute certainty that elephant did not create that picture out of a need for a creative outlet. It was trained to follow the mahouts (trainer) command and was purely following orders out of fear of the abuse it suffered during the training process. If you look closely during the wide angle shots you will see other mahouts standing on their elephants left side and they too are leading their elephant during the process. The close ups show an elephants trunk moving a paint brush across a canvas and it appears to be creating a picture, except it is taking commands from its mahout who is out of the shot. The training process is called the phajaan or crush and is centuries old and is used throughout Asia today. It involves taking a 3-year-old baby from its mothers side and roping it into a small bamboo cage in which it cannot move except to breathe. Of course the elephant fights for its freedom and is beaten, poked with sharp bamboo, starved, dehydrated, and sleep-deprived until it submits to its captors demands. The process may take a week, depending on how long it takes to crush the elephants spirit. About 50% of the babies die from the process and the survivors are left with physical and emotional scars for the rest of their lives. The demand for elephant paintings comes mostly from Japan, Europe, and the US, and the motivation from the Thai people is purely financial since a single painting can fetch several thousand dollars. I honestly hope that if people knew the true process for creating a picture, they would not offer any support at all for it. So PLEASE tell your friends, family, anyone who will listen: DO NOT SUPPORT ELEPHANT PAINTINGS IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM! Last updated: 29 September 2014 Urban Legends Reference Pages © 1995-2014 by snopes. This material may not be reproduced without permission. snopes and the snopes logo are registered service marks of snopes. Read more at: snopes/photos/animals/elephantpainting.asp#B2CGszTL3J4C93Bt.99
Posted on: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 18:49:49 +0000
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