Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Townsend Walker

Dog Shot

I tied the dog to the fence, set my 16mm camera on a tripod and loaded the .22 I borrowed from Matt. I aimed the pistol at the dog and pulled the trigger. The bullet went through the dog’s head.
My film showed this. It was exhibited at a gallery in Chelsea.
I believe art is a creative journey. It is a process of gathering, sorting, collating, associating and patterning actions. Art is the doing and how actions are defined as an actual work, seeing it as pure human expression. A deliverable or end product is not important or even desirable.
I adopted Daisy from the East 92nd Street shelter. She was a taffy colored cocker spaniel with white paws. She had been in the shelter for over six months. No one wanted her. They would have probably put her to sleep in a month or so.
I want people to understand Daisy did not suffer for my art. I fed her well and gave her a good meal of ground steak before I started filming. Her death was instantaneous. I am sure. I’ve looked at the film hundreds of times.

© Townsend Walker 2012

Townsend Walker is a writer living in San Francisco. His stories have been published in over forty literary journals and included in five anthologies. Two of his stories were nominated for the PEN/O.Henry Award. His book "A Little Love, A Little Shove" is forthcoming from Shelfstealers Press in Autumn 2012. The website is www.townsendwalker.com.

3 comments:

  1. Reminds of Kosinski's "Steps."

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  2. Hey Townsend get some therapy!

    Only joking. A very realistic narrative voice.

    Love the last line. Nice job.

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  3. Bravo. A dark peek into a sick, sick mind. They Are out there everywhere posing as all sorts of acceptable things. Gold star.

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