I was listening to Radio Sweden online yesterday at work when a news story about terrorist-imposters in Stockholm kidnapping a cow sculpture, and threatening to destroy it unless the exhibition host — Cow Parade, which has hosted outdoor shows of painted fiberglass cattle in cities all over the world — confess that they (the cattle) are “non-art.”
Well, here’s the lead, from Radio Sweden:
- The demand was made on a video sent to a newspaper showing two masked, black-clad figures holding power drills to the cows head. The group calling itself , “Stockholm´s militant graffiti artists” has given organisers of the parade until next Monday to comply or the cow will be destroyed.
Y’all know how I feel about cattle, and I’m not amused. These so-called artists should be ashamed of themselves for denegration of substance in art. Ironic, huh? After all, they adopt the substance of murderous and terroristic forces without adequately judging the meaning of their appropriation. I’m sure they think they’re being terribly clever and current. Sure, the painted cattle are little more than a gimic (Washington is studded with painted pandas right now; I don’t think they’re all that great either) but through an act of unmindful apporpriation of form, the Swedish remontrants have shown themselves to be untrustworthy in any opinion they have.
I rather hope the police find the fiberglass cattle rustlers and the courts throw the book at them.
