Water color pencil and sprayed water on Hahnemühle water color paper, 300 gr/m2. Dimensions are either 35 x 50 cm or 50 x 70 cm. 39,95 euro excl. mail.
Description
Grazing Choreographies consists of:
• A collection of 48 drawings of grazing patterns of cows, executed in the mountains of Engadin in the Swiss Alps and the Dutch flat landscape of Groningen. Every drawing comes with a text that describes the observation process.
• An artist book containing all 48 drawings and texts (in Dutch and English).
Artistic motivation
The idea of Grazing Choreographies is rooted in our work with GPS over the past 20 years. Working with this technology as a drawing tool has shaped our view, so to speak, into a view from above, a view of the world as if from a satellite. It has thus become a hybrid of classical drawing and digitally mediated contemplation of the world around us.
Press (in Dutch)
Hoe gracieus graast een koe? JEGENS & TEVENS 26-11-’22 (How Gracious does a Cow Graze): “[…] delving into the choreography of animals. Not from science, but from art. […] What’s funny to see is that cows often walk one way and then return for a short while, and then go on again. Cows like to zigzag. It is also winding each time, like a stream on a map, or a spool of yarn lying around. […] But yes, those cows do walk there for us, of course. They are ignorant of that and that is what makes them so tragic. You notice that when a cow is genuinely sad once when her calf is taken away: ‘The milk is paid for with the many separations of cow and calf.’
Graaspatronen van koeien: even simpel als ingenieus MuseumTijdschrift 02-08-’21 (Grazing Patterns of Cows, as simple as ingenious): “We wouldn’t have drawn the grazing patterns like that if we hadn’t had that 20-year GPS experience.”
Beweegredenen van grazende koeien NRC 22 juli 2022
Graaschoreografieën: de kunst van het grazen Nieuwe Oogst 15-07-’21
Framed drawing of a swiss herd of cows in the Engadin mountains in Swtzerland. From the Grazing Choreographies series,
Two drawings from the Grazing Choreographies series at Drawing Art Bruxelles, at DudokDeGroot Gallery.
Book
The 48 pencil drawings are combined in a beautiful book.
Bookdesign: Karen Polder
Translation: Siji Jabbar.
Publisher: Müller
Book order
You can order the book by sending an email to PolakVanBekkum.
Funding
Grazing Choreographies/Graaschoreografieën is made possible by contributions from the Mondriaan Fund, the Jaap Hartenfund, arts initiative Somalgors74, Tschlin, Switzerland, and Foundation Stokroos.