Koe is a response to the agricultural landscape throughout the Netherlands’ northeastern province of Drenthe. The Netherlands’ landscape is divided into a series of dikes created to defend against the increasing threat of floods due to the regions relation to sea level. During my two hour train ride from Amsterdam to Kolderveen I became increasingly interested in the segregated countryside and in the isolation of small herds of cattle. Koe, the installation I created for New Riddles & Constellations 4, borrowed individual aspects from the Dutch terrain. The piece was site specific and isolated one koe (cow) on one parcel of land contained by a single electric fence and surrounded by a custom circular dike filled with water. Video documentation was presented in the Kaashal exhibition on a monitor displayed atop a two inch circular cut of sod from the dike’s creation.
Monique Besten artist and cofounder of the organization Stichting Mista’peo, invited three American artists (Jason Ferguson, Christian French, and Mary Rothlisberger) to participate in New Riddles & Constellations 4 in Kolderveen, the Netherlands. Click here for images of the closing reception of this exciting event.
Koe 2008 (video documentation)
circular dike, electric fence, and live cow
H 2 meters x diameter 9 meters
