Let no day pass over you without a line ... be ready to put into your Table-book (which you must always carry about you) whatsoever you judge worthy of it; whether it be upon the Earth, or in the Air, or upon the Waters, while the Species of them is yet fresh in your imagination.Some lines are best left unwritten. The ABC reports that a Münster court has ruled that tattooing a white pony with the Rolling Stones' tongue logo would infringe German animal rights law.
The pony's owner reportedly sought to tattoo the animal's right hind thigh to make it "more uniquely beautiful" and had "pre-tattooed the outline of the tongue, 15 square centimetres in area", presumably before the law intervened.
The court reportedly indicated that "The tattooing of a warm-blooded vertebrate contravenes animal protection laws. This forbids causing an animal pain without reason." The court apparently considered the pony's inability to understand why it was being tattooed (German courts clearly don't hold with claims by the World Futures devotees about telepathic 'oneness' with animals, carrots, rocks and the dead) and reportedly indicated that the owner's desire to "beautify" the pony masked a more commercial purpose: "He wanted to make money from a 'tattoo service for animals'".
I'm reminded of Belgian provocateur (oops, conceptual artist) Wim Delvoye, who has attracted attention for his ArtFarm on the outskirts of Beijing. It features a collection of tattooed pigs. Consumers can reportedly buy live or stuffed tattooed versions of Babe (compliance with the AQIS rules might pose problems if you want to import one of the rather sad-looking piggies for a ramble around your corporate foyer). Delvoye is also selling tattoed pig skins.
Being nasty to animals is passe. Mr Delvoye might try selling some tattooed artists, stuffed, tanned or otherwise. In the postmodern future every conceptual artist can be infamous for 15 minutes
