Quote:
This week in New York, the American Museum of Natural History unveiled something never before seen: an 11-by-4-foot tapestry made completely of spider silk.
Weavers in Madagascar took four years to make it, and the museum says there's no other like it in the world.
It's now in a glass case at the museum. The color is a radiant gold — the natural color of the golden orb-weaving spider, from the Nephila genus, one that's found in several parts of the world.
[...]
The task of silking a spider starts with a small machine — designed centuries ago when the first attempts to silk spiders were begun — that holds the spider down.
"The spiders are harnessed ... held down in a delicate way," Godley says, "so you need people to do this who are very tactile so the spiders are not harmed. So there's a chain of about 80 people who go out every morning at four o'clock, collect spiders, we get them in by 10 o'clock. They're in boxes, they're numbered, and then as they get silked, about 20 minutes later, they get released back into nature."
Weavers in Madagascar took four years to make it, and the museum says there's no other like it in the world.
It's now in a glass case at the museum. The color is a radiant gold — the natural color of the golden orb-weaving spider, from the Nephila genus, one that's found in several parts of the world.
[...]
The task of silking a spider starts with a small machine — designed centuries ago when the first attempts to silk spiders were begun — that holds the spider down.
"The spiders are harnessed ... held down in a delicate way," Godley says, "so you need people to do this who are very tactile so the spiders are not harmed. So there's a chain of about 80 people who go out every morning at four o'clock, collect spiders, we get them in by 10 o'clock. They're in boxes, they're numbered, and then as they get silked, about 20 minutes later, they get released back into nature."
Just to prove that there's one in every crowd:
Some angry vegan blogger wrote:
This cruel tapestry took four years to make, and apparently there’s no other like it in the world. The tapestry is gold because that’s the natural color of the golden orb-weaving spider, the spiders who spun the piece.
[...]
I mean, wow. How superfluous- to exploit a million little animals for a project simply because, “it’s never been done before.â€
[...]
We all know the track record regarding treatment of animals in the clothing industry. The human variety has been abused for years slaving for poor wages in deplorable conditions to make high fashion clothes. Furry animals have been skinned alive for their contributions.
[...]
Peers and Godley say they spent a half-million dollars of their own money to make the tapestry. Who’s money did they want to use? They spent $500,000 of their own money to exploit another living, feeling animal. How can people continue to support the exploitation of any animal (saying the tapestry is “amazing†and “an extraordinary accomplishmentâ€), and all the while fighting to protect others? Exploitation is exploitation, regardless of species.
[...]
I mean, wow. How superfluous- to exploit a million little animals for a project simply because, “it’s never been done before.â€
[...]
We all know the track record regarding treatment of animals in the clothing industry. The human variety has been abused for years slaving for poor wages in deplorable conditions to make high fashion clothes. Furry animals have been skinned alive for their contributions.
[...]
Peers and Godley say they spent a half-million dollars of their own money to make the tapestry. Who’s money did they want to use? They spent $500,000 of their own money to exploit another living, feeling animal. How can people continue to support the exploitation of any animal (saying the tapestry is “amazing†and “an extraordinary accomplishmentâ€), and all the while fighting to protect others? Exploitation is exploitation, regardless of species.
I could make this a poll but if any of you equate this to spider slavery, I'm happier not knowing about it.
Finally, a detail of the tapestry:
