Supermen is a meditation on the will of human power based on direct experience working with American pitbull terriers in controlled environments. Dogs are always subjected to human will that molds each one’s character (through selection and training). Thereby, by observing their behavior, we can identify some of our own similarities in turn.
“I am a Pit-bull on the pant leg of opportunity”
George Bush
For many generations, these dogs were chosen for their responsiveness to criteria that measured their usefulness. The objective was to train a dog that would carry out impossible tasks. It had to demonstrate the most resistance possible and the greatest jaw strength. In this manner since the colonization of the Americas they have served for defense purposes, in hauling minerals from the mines, helping butchers in the meat industry, and fighting for mere entertainment. Later, during World War I, they were incorporated into the North American military corps.
On a physical level, Superman syndrome is an anomaly in gender chromosomes when a male receives an extra Y chromosome, producing the 47.XYY karyotype. Throughout history, some scientists have fervently defended the notion, without being able to offer concrete results, that certain violent characteristics are directly related to this genetic accident.
In spiritual matters, Nietzsche’s concept of the Superman, providing tragic interpretations demonstrated by history, appears to fall within a fully effectual framework of an ever-expanding neoliberal context, whereby success is defined in terms of consolidating the will to power.
The pitbull is the ideal raw material for the project, given its condition as an object repeatedly subjected to the human will that conditions each one’s natural development and employs eugenic tactics aimed at capitalizing on its characteristics generally associated with violence. On the other hand, humans have undertaken the task of training the dogs with a specific end in mind—to serve them. The high degree of manipulation that certain dogs, like this breed, are subject to allows us to observe their behavior and, in turn, identify our own similarities."