the pachydermal artists
i have a few things to say about this video of an elephant painting a “self-portrait”. first of all, the video is well described by those oft-misused words: unbelievable, incredible. the painting is probably as good as i could do, and i lack the creative touch to add the flower. the video has had mixed reception judging from the 7,877 comments, ranging from “good job elephant u are awesome!” to “hoax” to “any animal is smart if you whip it enough”. most are credulously supportive. but each of these comments represents a viewpoint i would be willing to endorse; i am going to try and make the case pro and contra each.
the BBC has previously reported on elephant paintings, indeed on elephant paintings of elephants, which is already a step further than chimpanzees, whose high brow tastes cause them to paint exclusively in an abstract expressionist style (basic portraits beneath their sensibilities). note that there is no reason to believe the portraits are of the artist, rather than, say, a friend — hence my reluctance to use the term ‘self-portrait’. anyhow, the elephant portrait featured in the BBC report is fairly abstract itself, much messier than the precise lines painted by the pachydermal artist in the youtube video. the BBC report at least makes me comfortable with the idea that elephants can paint elephant forms, which is amazing by the way.
of course this proves little about the elephant’s cognitive abilities beyond that they can be trained to do complex tasks. so, is it just the whip that’s made them smart? the BBC report says portraits can be produced with only a month of training — seems not excessive. i actually find the precision of the youtube portrait to suggest that it’s not by rote the elephant has become an artist. if these animals are painting by reproducing a series of motions that’s been taught to them, cruelly or otherwise, i would expect the painting to be a bit messier than the one in the youtube video. the evenness of the strokes and the precision with which the lines are connected, in my opinion, is more plausibly explained by an understanding that this activity involves an iconic representation rather than by the repeated motions learned through a very thorough training regiment. that’s far from proof, if such a thing can be proved.
i considered the possibility that this video is a hoax. my disbelief was strong enough that i thought maybe the artist was actually just some guy with a disgustingly trunk-like arm (most of the video doesn’t show the whole elephant). i don’t know anything about the art of detecting fraudulent video, so i’ll remain silent on the issue.
in the end i’m thinking “good job elephant u are awesome!” it seems to me the pachydermal artists have understood that a painting is an iconic representation and they have achieved through a type of physical therapy the motor ability to produce a representation of their own form. one thing lacking on these paintings is a signature at the bottom. these aren’t self portraits — i doubt elephant selves exist — but only slightly less remarkable for that.
