Experimental electronic musician Matthew Herbert has faced all sorts of problems since first launching his One Pig project last year. The album, which is intended to document the entire life cycle of a pig from birth to butchering, recently hit a snag when Herbert was not allowed to record the pig's slaughter. Now, he's facing scrutiny from animal rights activists PETA.
In a statement made to Gigwise earlier this month, PETA said the following:
No one with any true talent or creativity hurts animals to attract attention, but we are sorry Matthew Herbert couldn't include the screams of pigs being made into bacon on his record, as they would have instantly turned some people into vegetarians...Pigs are inquisitive, highly intelligent, sentient animals who become frightened when they are sent to slaughterhouses, where they kick and scream and try to escape the knife. They are far more worthy of respect than Matthew Herbert or anyone else who thinks cruelty is entertainment.
Confused by their simplistic understanding of his project, Herbert responded to Gigwise with a statement of his own, writing:
I'm puzzled and disappointed by PETA's assertions about one pig because this project is in part about dealing head on with the conditions and realities of a modern food industry. As I eat meat, I would have thought PETA would have been pleased that I am confronting the consequences of that choice. Unlike most industrial pig farms, my pig was kept in excellent conditions but was always grown by the farmer for slaughter. My desire to listen in to that entire cycle and represent it as music is not, and never was intended to be cynically repackaged purely as entertainment.
Hopefully PETA can spend 2010 opening their minds a little, if only so they can use One Pig to their advantage when it's released at the end of the year.
In a statement made to Gigwise earlier this month, PETA said the following:
No one with any true talent or creativity hurts animals to attract attention, but we are sorry Matthew Herbert couldn't include the screams of pigs being made into bacon on his record, as they would have instantly turned some people into vegetarians...Pigs are inquisitive, highly intelligent, sentient animals who become frightened when they are sent to slaughterhouses, where they kick and scream and try to escape the knife. They are far more worthy of respect than Matthew Herbert or anyone else who thinks cruelty is entertainment.
Confused by their simplistic understanding of his project, Herbert responded to Gigwise with a statement of his own, writing:
I'm puzzled and disappointed by PETA's assertions about one pig because this project is in part about dealing head on with the conditions and realities of a modern food industry. As I eat meat, I would have thought PETA would have been pleased that I am confronting the consequences of that choice. Unlike most industrial pig farms, my pig was kept in excellent conditions but was always grown by the farmer for slaughter. My desire to listen in to that entire cycle and represent it as music is not, and never was intended to be cynically repackaged purely as entertainment.
Hopefully PETA can spend 2010 opening their minds a little, if only so they can use One Pig to their advantage when it's released at the end of the year.