inmates
June 23, 2007 11:15 PM Subscribe
The Chain: 700 psychiatric patients live chained together in pairs, forced to tend more than one million chickens at the largest chicken farm in Taiwan.
This post was deleted for the following reason: Beaten by a few hours. Drop the followup links in that thread. -- cortex
This is unimaginably horrible. But I'm conflicted regarding the book. There's a point at which the aestheticism of the arts publisher begins to grate unpleasantly against the subject matter of the photographer's work:
Each photo is a little masterpiece. Combined as they are in this book, the series of 48 (mostly) dual portraits becomes utterly amazing. The design of the book is brilliant. Each photograph is printed superbly in duotone inks as part of one long accordion-pleated sheet that is so appropriate to the subject matter of people literally chained together.
I understand that they need to sell books, obviously. But you can't photograph horrible stuff, present the book itself as a physical representation of that horrible stuff, and then wax poetic about its beauty. Well, you can. But it's in poor taste.
posted by felix betachat at 11:31 PM on June 23, 2007
Each photo is a little masterpiece. Combined as they are in this book, the series of 48 (mostly) dual portraits becomes utterly amazing. The design of the book is brilliant. Each photograph is printed superbly in duotone inks as part of one long accordion-pleated sheet that is so appropriate to the subject matter of people literally chained together.
I understand that they need to sell books, obviously. But you can't photograph horrible stuff, present the book itself as a physical representation of that horrible stuff, and then wax poetic about its beauty. Well, you can. But it's in poor taste.
posted by felix betachat at 11:31 PM on June 23, 2007
Not to poo in your thread (because I think you fleshed it out very nicely, very nicely indeed) but does this technically count as a double?
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 11:49 PM on June 23, 2007
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 11:49 PM on June 23, 2007
I don't think it counts as a double.
I think it counts as a reason to lament the existence of humanity, though.
posted by blacklite at 12:37 AM on June 24, 2007
I think it counts as a reason to lament the existence of humanity, though.
posted by blacklite at 12:37 AM on June 24, 2007
.
posted by exlotuseater at 12:41 AM on June 24, 2007
posted by exlotuseater at 12:41 AM on June 24, 2007
I think it counts as a reason to lament the existence of humanity, though.
But if humans didn't exist, and therefore couldn't do this kind of thing to other humans, then surely some other species would've arisen on the planet that would do just this kind of thing to one another. And then we'd just have to lament their existence.
And humans occasionally do good things. I mean, once every few hundred years or so, at least.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 12:47 AM on June 24, 2007
But if humans didn't exist, and therefore couldn't do this kind of thing to other humans, then surely some other species would've arisen on the planet that would do just this kind of thing to one another. And then we'd just have to lament their existence.
And humans occasionally do good things. I mean, once every few hundred years or so, at least.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 12:47 AM on June 24, 2007
And I'm not even sure exactly where I stand yet on this particular Taiwan thing: I'm not convinced it's necessarily more cruel or misguided than keeping people on massive amounts of drugs and under lock and key like we see in many other parts of the world.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 12:52 AM on June 24, 2007
posted by flapjax at midnite at 12:52 AM on June 24, 2007
I think it counts as a reason to lament the existence of humanity, though.
This is precisely the kind of anti-human squishy thinking that results in dogs and cats receiving more charitable donations than people do.
Humanity seems so calculatingly cruel while the animal kingdom is full of innocence. At least up until the point when you see something other than disney and lolcats.
I once watched a group of mallards hold a female duck under water and repeatedly mount it despite its efforts to get away. Pretty much a gang rape perpetrated by the same ducks who quack and wiggle their tails when you feed them bread crumbs.
I once spent a night cowering in a tent trailer in a Virginia state park while a pack of feral dogs ran rampant in the campground looking for something to eat. These were the same animals we invite into our homes, feed, and scoop the shit of.
Nature is full of unrelenting brutality punctuated by moments of grace. Humanity on the other hand is full of grace, beauty and kindness that is sometimes punctuated with evil. That we have flipped the equation is what makes us so fucking awesome and special. That these kind of things still happen is bad. That we are shocked by them is not a reason to lament. It is a reason to celebrate that we are wired or rewired to find it abhorrent rather than okay.
The glass isn't quite full but it is nowhere near half empty.
posted by srboisvert at 2:32 AM on June 24, 2007
This is precisely the kind of anti-human squishy thinking that results in dogs and cats receiving more charitable donations than people do.
Humanity seems so calculatingly cruel while the animal kingdom is full of innocence. At least up until the point when you see something other than disney and lolcats.
I once watched a group of mallards hold a female duck under water and repeatedly mount it despite its efforts to get away. Pretty much a gang rape perpetrated by the same ducks who quack and wiggle their tails when you feed them bread crumbs.
I once spent a night cowering in a tent trailer in a Virginia state park while a pack of feral dogs ran rampant in the campground looking for something to eat. These were the same animals we invite into our homes, feed, and scoop the shit of.
Nature is full of unrelenting brutality punctuated by moments of grace. Humanity on the other hand is full of grace, beauty and kindness that is sometimes punctuated with evil. That we have flipped the equation is what makes us so fucking awesome and special. That these kind of things still happen is bad. That we are shocked by them is not a reason to lament. It is a reason to celebrate that we are wired or rewired to find it abhorrent rather than okay.
The glass isn't quite full but it is nowhere near half empty.
posted by srboisvert at 2:32 AM on June 24, 2007
Sounds like the chickens are more free range than their carers.
posted by johnny7 at 2:32 AM on June 24, 2007
posted by johnny7 at 2:32 AM on June 24, 2007
srboisvert, I think you personify the animal kingdom too much. A sord of ducks acting on dumb instinct to propel their dna into the next generation is not remotely the same as human males deciding to gang rape a human female.
posted by zarah at 3:46 AM on June 24, 2007
posted by zarah at 3:46 AM on June 24, 2007
I'm with flapjax on this. While psychiatric medicine has made very good progress in the last century, there is still a large number of chronic cases which cannot be treated and which, in addition to being very ill, often suffer the considerable side-effects of years of psychopharmaceutics. For people like this a simple environment where they have work and company is probably more beneficial than being hospitalized for years in psychiatric wards.
Also it's incredibly hard to understand (let alone judge) a thing like this without some cultural background: E.g. how are the mentally ill generally treated in Taiwan? The article mentions that many of the people working on the farm were abandoned by their families. What would have happened to them if the monk hadn't taken them in? Also: How did he treat his wards? How were the working conditions (especially when compared to the general standard in Taiwan)?
In any case, interesting find. On a somewhat related note, here's an article about Taiwan's last leper colony.
posted by Herr Fahrstuhl at 4:07 AM on June 24, 2007
Also it's incredibly hard to understand (let alone judge) a thing like this without some cultural background: E.g. how are the mentally ill generally treated in Taiwan? The article mentions that many of the people working on the farm were abandoned by their families. What would have happened to them if the monk hadn't taken them in? Also: How did he treat his wards? How were the working conditions (especially when compared to the general standard in Taiwan)?
In any case, interesting find. On a somewhat related note, here's an article about Taiwan's last leper colony.
posted by Herr Fahrstuhl at 4:07 AM on June 24, 2007
srboisvert, I think you personify the animal kingdom too much. A sord of ducks acting on dumb instinct to propel their dna into the next generation is not remotely the same as human males deciding to gang rape a human female.
Zarah, you're only helping me make my point. Animals are vicious out of dumb instinct. They will forever be doing brutal things. Humans on the other hand have mostly transcended the savagery of the animal kingdom. That's why it seems so harsh when people slip. Rapists are not excused by any instinctual component. Their acts are not viewed as exemplars of humanity but rather as deviations and condemned as such. What is lamented isn't humanity but rather inhumanity.
Things like this chicken farm are viewed as moral failures because that is what they are. People are not perfect but we are multiples better than anything else. Except Pandas of course.
posted by srboisvert at 4:08 AM on June 24, 2007
Zarah, you're only helping me make my point. Animals are vicious out of dumb instinct. They will forever be doing brutal things. Humans on the other hand have mostly transcended the savagery of the animal kingdom. That's why it seems so harsh when people slip. Rapists are not excused by any instinctual component. Their acts are not viewed as exemplars of humanity but rather as deviations and condemned as such. What is lamented isn't humanity but rather inhumanity.
Things like this chicken farm are viewed as moral failures because that is what they are. People are not perfect but we are multiples better than anything else. Except Pandas of course.
posted by srboisvert at 4:08 AM on June 24, 2007
i, of course, have never seen the inside of a psychiatric institution, but if i had, i'd imagine that there is nothing that would twist my mind into shapes it should not be more than being chained to a fellow patient & forced to work in a factory farm.
this experiment, or therapy, or whatever it was meant to be seems about as misguided to me as the nazis injecting blue ink into Jews' eyes to see if that would change their eye colour. sorry to invoke Godwin like that, but this is some seriously fucked up shit. to make matters worse, this, for example, is nothing short of sickening:
Each photo is a little masterpiece. Combined as they are in this book, the series of 48 (mostly) dual portraits becomes utterly amazing. The design of the book is brilliant. Each photograph is printed superbly in duotone inks as part of one long accordion-pleated sheet that is so appropriate to the subject matter of people literally chained together. When fully opened, the single page of the book could easily stand on its own as an elegant gallery installation extending 20 feet long by 8 inches high.
oh, and a hat off to exlotuseater.
posted by UbuRoivas at 4:50 AM on June 24, 2007
this experiment, or therapy, or whatever it was meant to be seems about as misguided to me as the nazis injecting blue ink into Jews' eyes to see if that would change their eye colour. sorry to invoke Godwin like that, but this is some seriously fucked up shit. to make matters worse, this, for example, is nothing short of sickening:
Each photo is a little masterpiece. Combined as they are in this book, the series of 48 (mostly) dual portraits becomes utterly amazing. The design of the book is brilliant. Each photograph is printed superbly in duotone inks as part of one long accordion-pleated sheet that is so appropriate to the subject matter of people literally chained together. When fully opened, the single page of the book could easily stand on its own as an elegant gallery installation extending 20 feet long by 8 inches high.
oh, and a hat off to exlotuseater.
posted by UbuRoivas at 4:50 AM on June 24, 2007
Sickening? Really? You're easily offended. Sure it might be misguided artistic capitalism at work but it's not like they have been popping the eyes out of children.
I have mixed feelings about all this. 'Chains' are always such symbolic and evocative motifs. Otherwise maybe they would have to be tied down with less freedom of movement. There is a reasonably good argument to say that having even so lowly an occupation as chicken work is better than...not having anything to occupy their time.
That's not to say that I think we should be advocating what we see here as an exemplary form of treatment. But there is some tabloidesque presentation bound up in this project to sell books by OUTRAGE.
posted by peacay at 5:15 AM on June 24, 2007
I have mixed feelings about all this. 'Chains' are always such symbolic and evocative motifs. Otherwise maybe they would have to be tied down with less freedom of movement. There is a reasonably good argument to say that having even so lowly an occupation as chicken work is better than...not having anything to occupy their time.
That's not to say that I think we should be advocating what we see here as an exemplary form of treatment. But there is some tabloidesque presentation bound up in this project to sell books by OUTRAGE.
posted by peacay at 5:15 AM on June 24, 2007
Such interesting comments! Agree wholeheartedly about the book being touted heavy on the saccharine laced with the allure of outrage, an uncomfortable taste mix.
Meandering sleepily last night before hitting the hay I came across this strange story and wanted to share it here. Never thought to check it was a double under the words "cult" or "Taiwanese" rather than Taiwan, drat.
Because a Buddhist abbot (who I always thought were monks in the first place) decided to become a monk and chained a schizophrenic man to himself, as a disciple, it may well be a double because that, initially, sure sounds like a cult.
This morning, under the influence of my first cup of coffee and your comments, I decided to check out the history of psychiatry in Taiwan and came across this excellent and historically interesting paper [pdf] by a student, Shigeo Kato, written in Japanese-English about other asylums in Taiwan and Japan at the early part of the last century, four decades before this chicken farm 'asylum' was established:
"In colonial Taiwan, the first full-scale public mental hospital, Youshinin, was founded in 1935. Why did the Taiwan colonial government, which had been reluctant to pay money for psychiatry, established the mental hospital? Unlike mainland Japan, in colonial Taiwan, there was almost no establishment of a private mental hospital".
And an explanation of sorts about the chaining, which occurred in asylums other than the chicken farm:
"According to Takeuchi, doctor of psychiatric ward, it was common for the confinement at houses to bind the patient with a rope, and to tie by a chain. In order to prevent excitement, sometimes, both hands of a patient, were extended right and left and binded to a bamboo pole. The confinement room was dirty, dark and circulation of air was scarce. And treatments were cruel. In a certain case, a patient was put into the cage."
1970 seems very late in the development of Western contemporary psychology to chain people together and put them to work with chickens. But maybe in this history of Taiwanese psychiatry and Buddhism it makes historical/cultural sense? Perhaps then in Taiwan it was perceived an act of compassion and pioneering to chain the patients to each other, rather than spread-eagle to bamboo poles? And to let them be uncaged, while attending caged chickens?
posted by nickyskye at 7:26 AM on June 24, 2007
Meandering sleepily last night before hitting the hay I came across this strange story and wanted to share it here. Never thought to check it was a double under the words "cult" or "Taiwanese" rather than Taiwan, drat.
Because a Buddhist abbot (who I always thought were monks in the first place) decided to become a monk and chained a schizophrenic man to himself, as a disciple, it may well be a double because that, initially, sure sounds like a cult.
This morning, under the influence of my first cup of coffee and your comments, I decided to check out the history of psychiatry in Taiwan and came across this excellent and historically interesting paper [pdf] by a student, Shigeo Kato, written in Japanese-English about other asylums in Taiwan and Japan at the early part of the last century, four decades before this chicken farm 'asylum' was established:
"In colonial Taiwan, the first full-scale public mental hospital, Youshinin, was founded in 1935. Why did the Taiwan colonial government, which had been reluctant to pay money for psychiatry, established the mental hospital? Unlike mainland Japan, in colonial Taiwan, there was almost no establishment of a private mental hospital".
And an explanation of sorts about the chaining, which occurred in asylums other than the chicken farm:
"According to Takeuchi, doctor of psychiatric ward, it was common for the confinement at houses to bind the patient with a rope, and to tie by a chain. In order to prevent excitement, sometimes, both hands of a patient, were extended right and left and binded to a bamboo pole. The confinement room was dirty, dark and circulation of air was scarce. And treatments were cruel. In a certain case, a patient was put into the cage."
1970 seems very late in the development of Western contemporary psychology to chain people together and put them to work with chickens. But maybe in this history of Taiwanese psychiatry and Buddhism it makes historical/cultural sense? Perhaps then in Taiwan it was perceived an act of compassion and pioneering to chain the patients to each other, rather than spread-eagle to bamboo poles? And to let them be uncaged, while attending caged chickens?
posted by nickyskye at 7:26 AM on June 24, 2007
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Portraits of the players in this real yet surreal drama were photographed with kindness, respect and compassion Magnum photographer, Chien-Chi Chang, born in Taiwan.
posted by nickyskye at 11:18 PM on June 23, 2007