LIFE AND DEATH IN THE ARTWORLD

Way before I ever thought about making art by hunting and killing animals, I did a piece called MY COW. The year was 1980. This work started by designing and registering my brand with the state of California. The "Pointed Cane" brand looked a little like an elongated Pacman standing on his lower jaw. I got my local blacksmith (SF still had one in 1980) to weld me up a branding iron and then went in search of a cow to buy. My good friend Peggy Ingall's brother Pete had a little ranch in Gridley, CA and he turned me on to a farm where i purchased a 400 lb. calf. Dan Ake and I lined his old Ford Econoline van with plywood and drove east into farm country. Needless to say neither Dan nor I had any idea how to handle a cow. With the help of the farmer we got the calf in the back of the van and drove back to SF. The critter spent the night on the streets of SF, while I prepared a performance at 80 Langton.

The next night Dan backed his van into the gallery and with the help of Tom Chapman we branded the cow. I remember Cathy Acker and Robert Atkins watching in horror as I singed the cow's hide as part of a performance called COW POEMS. Another night in the van parked on the streets and then we drove the MY COW out to Pete Ingalls' ranch. I told him I would pay him $20 per month in order to board the cow for her natural life. I read somewhere that a cow's nose is as specific as a human's fingerprint. So a couple of month's later Pete lassoed the cow and Dan pulled prints from her nose. The piece was progressing nicely.

I went to NYC before Xmas and planned on tracking down Yoko Ono at the Dakota. I had heard she kept dairy cows on a farm upstate, and thought I maybe could interest her in this piece. One thing led to another and I never got to see her. On the flight back to SF the pilot announced that John Lennon had been killed outside the Dakota's entrance. Then, one night about a week later, I got a call from Pete. The cow had jumped the fence, got out on the road and was killed by a local driving his pick up truck. He sent me the steaks which I printed and then salted into art objects. The piece was over.

This morning I began MY COW II. This will be the creation of a dairy cow from a fertilized egg to birth. Buddy and Scott Key will do the actual insemination and care for the calf on their farm near Cooperstown, NY. I will fund it and document this specific cow's life. A cow can live 30 years. This one may out last me. Pictures to follow.