2024 Finalists

The proposed work is a mixed media painting measuring 2,50m in height and 3,50m in length titled Fred, the unholy cow (2018). In its original installation, as part of my BFA Degree Show, it was presented with the image facing the northern direction of the room. As, in the same way that birds have an instinct telling them to fly south for the winter, cows tend to face magnetic north when they eat or rest. Scientists were able to determine this over time by using satellite images, and field observations. There was also a circle of empty plastic bottles surrounding the painting – representing the amount of water it takes to produce one burger.

The Fred painting is installed with fastenings to the floor and ceiling, so that the viewer can access the piece from all angles, and walk around it. It is preferential that there is an option to block out all the light from the exhibition space and an invigilator opens the windows to let in natural light at timed intervals OR a system of installed lights operate using timers; just as the Earth continues to spin around the sun, there is night and day within the exhibition space. As the painting is multidimensional – containing elements painted with glow in the dark pigments. Thus, the opportunity to view this piece in complete darkness and then also in daylight would essentially yield two different images. The glow in the dark pigments require to be “powered up” by sunlight or very good indoor lighting. So just permanently blocking out sources of natural light within the gallery, and having the ceiling lights be turned on at set intervals is also a possibility.

Process and Symbolism

Naming things has long been part of the telling of our own story. In the biblical account of creation, prior to the fall-out of the apple incident, the separation of humans from other animals needed to be asserted. The required fencing off was to be achieved by capturing all other life forms in names. Adam in the garden, even before things went wrong with knowledge, was given an Eden project of his own: the job of naming all the animals, every beast of the field, every fowl of the air: “Whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.”
Naming the Animals, a poem by the late Anthony Hecht, develops the story. Adam, new – understandably – to the
game, is bewildered by his task. Shyly addressing a cow, he ventures to call it ‘Fred’. Fred the cow and Adam’s
efforts underline the paradoxical effect of naming nature.

• • Animal, vegetable, mineral: organizing nature, a picture album, Wellcome Collection.

Repurposed fabrics on 18 stretchers represent formula-fed (“white” or “milk-fed”) veal calves which are raised on a milk formula supplement. The calves are usually slaughtered when they reach 18 to 20 weeks of age. Cow gestation lasts the same amount of time as human pregnancy and 97% of new-born calves are forcibly removed from their mother within the first 24 hours of being born.

With a natural life expectancy of more than 20 to 25 years, dairy cows rarely live longer than 4 to 5 years – this is represented in the work by the five native jellyfish species in the Irish waters, Common (Moon), Blue, Barrel, Compass and Lion’s Mane.

The setting of the work is a field at the edge of a disappearing forest. As 2 to 5 acres of land are used per cow, livestock or livestock feed occupies 1/3 of the earth’s ice-free acreage, covering 45% of the earth’s total land. Animal agriculture and feed crops are the leading causes of habitat destruction and species extinction.

The extinct wild Auroch is the only wild animal that comes close to being the cow’s ancestor, with the last known surviving individual dying in the Jaktorów forest, Poland, in 1627.

Toxic fluorescent livestock paint was used to paint the blue overlay of central riverways of Poland. Water consumption by animal agriculture is responsible for 20% to 33% of all fresh water consumption in the world today.

Two species of cows exist today in the world – the humpless Taurine cow which is domesticated in Europe and North America, and the humped Jebu cow that resides in India and other Asian countries. Millions of Hindus revere and worship cows, and milk cows, specifically, are called aghnya “that which may not be slaughtered” in Rigveda – an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns.

Since establishing in 1901, Milka chocolate packages showcase a distinctive lilac colour. The packaging was originally conceived as a tribute to Art Nouveau and a symbol of extravagance, seduction and magic. In the 1970s the brand’s mascot Lila – a white cow with lilac spots – debuted in print and TV advertising. More than 150,000 Milka products are sold around the world each hour.

Google Earth images reveal that cattle around the world tend to align themselves with Earth’s magnetic field – facing either magnetic North or South when grazing or resting.

The combined capacity of the bottles within the installation adds up to 354 litres, which could fill two bathtubs. A cow on average consumes an entire bathtub of freshwater a day. It takes 2,400 litres of water to produce a single burger, and over 1,000 litres of water are required to produce a single litre of milk.

The circle signifies the limitless sky and all cyclic movement. It represents the infinite nature of energy, and the inclusivity of the universe. It is a basic symbol of protection, inclusion and wholeness.

In reports of cattle abductions by aliens in the US, claims of circular spaceships landing and leaving three pod marks in a triangular shape are common. Mutilations of said cattle are also usual. With social interest in everything extra-terrestrial, the truly alienlike beings on Earth (such as jellyfish, squids and octopi) are often overlooked, while their natural habitats are impacted by us.

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