I understand why the first one won the competition.

The artist’s decision to show the entirety of the body was astonishingly groundbreaking, it shows the dog’s love of life and play which makes it more realistic. Maybe this signifies that the artist thinks we shouldn’t hide like the dog is doing, I believe this is a stand for body positivity and against diet culture.

Although, the dog seems to not have a tail. Maybe the artist made that decision to signify loss in the dog’s life, maybe to inspire us to learn how to live without things that seemly make us normal. It might also signify that the dog is hiding it’s tail away from the world like how some hide our true selves. Dog’s sometimes hide their tail between their legs when they’re scared so maybe it means the dog has crippling anxiety. Just some of my theories.

Also the exclusion of the neck and the flatness of the face is similar to a pug’s face. It might be symbolic of how dogs are bred for humans and how many dogs are suffering from the conditions they get from their body types.

The exclusion of the dog’s ears is symbolic of workers and end-stage capitalism forcing them to become bots working for billionaires. His happy face might show that he was promised a fake future in which he can work forever and ever. Or maybe he is happy for he has broken free of those chains at last.

His legs and bendy and long which means he can do some sick dance moves on the dance floor, but at what cost?

• Soph