| art.description.project | Phase 1: Cow magnet, from sculpture to product.
The cow in the Hindu religion is sacred and thus in India cows can wander where they will. In cities they are often mixed in with the automotive traffic on the smaller thoroughfares. It causes some degree of traffic problem, and drivers are usually
adept at swerving to avoid the cows. While they seem to be free, the cows are actually owned and even breeded. In smaller villages it is apparent who owns the cows, but the urban cow sheds are less visible and as the cows wander during the day seeking food, ownership is also unclear. It is the older cows with no cash value that are left alone to roam at will and sleep wherever.
The cows graze on weeds or greenery wherever it is accessible and often return to the same places. Garbage thrown beside the road or left without being collected attracts the cows in search of wet waste such as vegetable peelings. In order to get at this they eat through the plastic bags. Cows grazing on piles of garbage is a common sight. They return or are herded to their owners ”cow shed” at night.
The cow magnet started as a sculpture. A reaction to cows trampling through a garden in Bangalore India in search of greenery or waste on a daily basis. The new garden site must have been on their daily food route. ”What we need is a cow magnet”. This seemed absurd but was actualized with the help of the College of Agricultural sciences farm department in Yelehanka Bangalore as they first supplied some dried ragi stalks—popular with cows—as well as a staple of the South Indian diet—and then in a second step discussed the design.
The first model of the cow magnet was ragi bound together in a U-shaped magnet form. It should then be dyed red and yellow with edible food coloring. But in order to hold the U-shape, it was necessary to use a lot of string, which would make it difficult to eat. An alternative was shredding the ragi and then putting it together with water and flour but this quickly broke into pieces. In order for this size to work—the magnets should be a small dimension and thus in constant need of replenishing, or just existing as deformed shapes after cows nibbled. Both of these styles needed an underlying support ”platter” anchored in a cement base.
As this process developed it seemed clear that the urban cows were most attracted to the smell of food in the garbage bags. Why not make the magnet into a trough where wet waste could be deposited by local households, thus eliminating the plastic in the cow diet and perhaps also eliminating some of the festering trash littering the streets. The first prototype for this was made in plywood and tested in Yelehanka, suburb of Bangalore, and then exhibited in order to find collaborators for the project at Krishimela. This is the largest agricultural fair in India and attracts over 100,000 visitors each year. The fair introduces all sort sof new products and machinery for the agricultural industry from animal husbandry to organic and urban farming.
The first prototype of the cow magnet was made with flexible plywood nailed around a magnet shape and painted yellow and red. A detachable welded metal stand supports this form and it can thus easily be separated and moved around. The first stage of experiments with the cow magnet took place in August, September and November 2015.
The ”magnet ” was placed and the cows brought near enough to find it. The first experiment was in the countryside and the magnet was filled with fresh ragi. The cows were ”magnetized”. An adjustment in height might be necessary. The second and third times the magnet was placed on suburban streets. It was first filled with ragi, and most of the cows passed this by in favor of the abundant trash. When trash was emptied into the trough it was more easily functional in attracting cows. However, it became clear that there must be a group of people interested in maintaining the magnet if this project should go further than being a visual idea presented as a sculpture.
Several of the thousands at the Krishimela Agriculture Fair were seriously interested in bringing the cow magnet to their neighbourhoods and the next phase of this project will be to cast the prototype in fibreglass and test it as a functional product. | sv |
