Juan Travyo Lonesome George Essay

An Examination of Lonesome George by Juan Travieso When considering cultures in collision a museum is a fine example of a clash of positives and negatives. This can be a troubling idea for the curators and visitors of museums because their collective pursuit of further cultural knowledge is often pure. However, in constructing a museum more often than not items of important significance are transplanted from their original location to be viewed and studied by a foreign people in a foreign land. The concept of the “rightful owners” of history and artifacts is a complicated one that leads to many cultural collisions. This is because multiple cultures often lay claim to the same artifacts leading to conflict among the claimants. With all of these ideas in mind the process of selecting a piece of art from the Cornell Fine Arts Museum for analysis became far more difficult. In examining the thought-provoking piece Lonesome George by Juan Travieso a warning message is telegraphed loud and clear.
Lonesome George is a contemporary piece completed in 2013 by Travieso a Cuban-American immigrant.
Displayed on a wall by itself it is easy to digest the piece on it’s own and search for deeper implications. The artwork’s namesake was the last living Pinta Island tortoise of the Galapagos Islands before it’s passing in 2012. This information alone makes this a fascinating and culturally charged piece. Travieso highlights the loss of ecological diversity that has ravaged the Galapagos Islands. The circumstance that led to the demise of the Pinta Island tortoise eerily echoes a sadly familiar occurrence of the 21st century. The goats depicted in this work are representative of the goats that were brought to the Galapagos Islands and that wreaked havoc on the ecosystem. The native animals struggled to adapt to the new species and were negatively impacted both directly and
indirectly. In this painting abstractionism is utilized to depict the goats that inadvertently contributed to the destruction of the island’s wildlife. This representational and metaphorical portrait of the goats symbolizes the larger effect ecological meddling can have on nature. By using realism in constructing the image of the tortoise it is all too apparent who suffers most from the misdeed’s of foreign meddlers. Even the distinction of being the most rare species in the world could not stop the demise of the Pinta Island tortoise. This perhaps best illustrates how native species and cultures are left battered after colliding with external forces.
The constant addition and subtraction of foreign and native elements has had a devastating affect on the Galapagos Islands destroying much of what made the islands so special to begin with. This modern day example of the effects of interfering in unique environments paints a harsh light on the practices employed by museums. When objects are considered to be better fit for display and not indispensible parts of a habitat the resulting cultural collisions are tragic. This reveals the paradox of museums; in striving to further cultural understanding often time’s diversity is destroyed. While it is not always a one for one trade of destruction for appreciation far too often have native environments been plundered for the benefit of another location.
The message Travieso hopes to deliver to an observer of his work is that while we cannot change the past we must learn from it. He advocates for leaving cultures/environments at peace because the detriments of interference far outweigh the benefits. Ironically Travieso’s deeper message of non-intervention can be expanded upon to include the practices of museum’s, the very place where his message is being displayed.