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Culture/Arts

but is it art?

(66 Posts)
sunseeker Fri 22-Apr-16 12:37:59

There is an "art installation" in Bristol at the moment. An artist has moved two cows into a marquee in the city centre and plans to live there with them for the next week, milking them (by machine) three times a day. She claims it is to raise awareness of where our food comes from. Now I live in a farming community and feel that cows belong in fields not in a tent in the middle of a busy city, very close to a very large nightclub. I am all in favour of people learning more about where their food comes from but can't see that this will do that.

jinglbellsfrocks Sat 23-Apr-16 22:00:36

I expect a local farmer has been quite happy to provide the cows. And the milking equipment. Who knows, perhaps his company too. smile

Gemmag Sat 23-Apr-16 21:36:46

Does Ms Reid thinks it is safe for her to sleep in the centre of Bristol City with just 2 cows for company for 5 nights?. Is Ms Reid funding this herself?. It would just be interesting to know who is paying for this exhibition!.

Jalima Sat 23-Apr-16 20:08:54

Andbloody Asda

Jalima Sat 23-Apr-16 20:08:34

It's not a stunt. It's time people woke up to the unfairness in the way the farmers are treated by the likes of bloody Tesco
Yes, yes, yes
However, Tesco aren't as bad as Lidl, Aldi and Morrisons!
Morrisons even have the nerve to sell what is probably the same milk at a premium so that we can choose whether or not to pay a fair price for the milk to the farmer!!

Your last post 19.22.57 is also spot on, jingls

jinglbellsfrocks Sat 23-Apr-16 20:04:48

Who actually said it was 'art'? Where did that information come from?Just because she happens to be an artist doesn't mean she can't make a non-artistic political statement. As she has. On behalf of the farmers.

M0nica Sat 23-Apr-16 19:22:57

I am in total agreement with you jingls, but it doesnt make this stunt art.

Elrel Sat 23-Apr-16 19:13:56

Re Shaun the Sheep - We had over 200 5' Owls in Birmingham. They brightened up the city and got strangers talking to each other. When they were sold off the city looked boring and I felt quite bereft!

jinglbellsfrocks Sat 23-Apr-16 17:38:57

Where would we be without our milk?

jinglbellsfrocks Sat 23-Apr-16 17:38:21

It's not a stunt. It's time people woke up to the unfairness in the way the farmers are treated by the likes of bloody Tesco.

jinglbellsfrocks Sat 23-Apr-16 17:36:23

It's so bad that milk is cheaper than bottled water. If this small exhibition goes some way to showing just how arduous dairy farming is, that can only be good. Well done her. It's not meant to be art. It's meant to be informative.

Be fairer to dairy farmers!

And of course it won't hurt the cows. hmm

trisher Sat 23-Apr-16 17:06:54

So now children will think cows are kept in tents and milked by artists. Fields and farmers will be forgotten!

Hattiehelga Sat 23-Apr-16 16:51:45

Art ?- no. Crackers ? - yes.

Jalima Sat 23-Apr-16 15:55:10

or arty-farty?

[groan]

Jalima Sat 23-Apr-16 15:54:39

grin
but is it art?

Elegran Sat 23-Apr-16 15:43:18

Apparently that one is leaking formaldehyde fumes - readings around the glass case are far higher than they should be. I wonder which is worse - methane farts from the cows or formaldehyde fumes from the art installation?

Jalima Sat 23-Apr-16 15:33:41

Artist Nessie Reid's The Milking Parlour is designed to raise awareness about farming and food production
Ms Reid is living with two pure-bred Guernsey cows in Anchor Bay, and hopes the project will "create debate"

She will probably achieve both those aims smile

Jalima Sat 23-Apr-16 15:25:53

I would rather see them in the city centre than the half one in formaldehyde by thingy Hurst

Jalima Sat 23-Apr-16 15:24:08

Shazmo24 Thanks for that, did not make it into Bristol today but glad to know the cows are fine (as I thought they would be having seen her and them on the tv).
The people from Peta, Animal Aid and the BBC are a lot more agitated than the cows from the evidence so far.

She had already said that they are show cows - anyone who has been to a big show knows how many people are there, how noisy it can be - probably more so than Bristol day or night!
The countryside is not all quiet and peaceful, and no, there are many children who just think that milk comes in plastic bottles .....

Shazmo24 Sat 23-Apr-16 15:18:51

I live in Bristol...The cows are fine. .chilled out & nor in distress. ..lots of kids have no idea where milk comes from other than in plastic bottles from the supermarket...she's got their welfare and security covered

rosesarered Sat 23-Apr-16 15:07:02

I expect they will be alright in the tent, it's only for a short while. No, it isn't art though, it's a stunt.

rosesarered Sat 23-Apr-16 15:05:57

grin

HootyMcOwlface Sat 23-Apr-16 12:12:14

I think someone ought to call the police in, and get them moooved on.

grandMattie Sat 23-Apr-16 10:32:35

When I heard about "cows", I first thought they would be like last year's very successful and amusing "Shaun the Sheep" installations round Bristol but with cows... Then perhaps it would be "formaldehyde cows" like Damien Hirst's.
Really! what will these attention seekers do next in the name of "Art"?
And those poor cows. I hope they get sent back to their field/shed very soon and not upon the completion of this silly woman's "installation".

trisher Sat 23-Apr-16 09:37:40

These days art is anything you can convince the so called experts is art, but I do think this is going a bit far. Maybe animal activists will intervene and kidnap (cownap?) the cows releasing them into a field somewhere. I wonder if she is getting some arts funding for this?

sunseeker Sat 23-Apr-16 09:14:09

Riverwalk These cows actually come from a local farm where they live in fields in good weather, being in a tent would be totally alien to them.