Cows Push Residents to Plan

#74. Cows Push Residents to Plan

Animal
Instructions
Vacant lot

Cow The Udder Way was a planning provocation that emerged out of an entry to the Shrinking Cities exhibition. The project proposed an alternative use for a vacant lot in Toxteth, an inner-city area of Liverpool, by bringing ten dairy cows to the site for nine days. Locals could learn to care for the herd, whose milk and manure were available for the community. The project provoked residents to propose future uses of the site by demonstrating its appropriation. A number of products from toothpaste to shoe polish were produced and made available for barter. In addition to instructions for use, the cow products come with instructions for production. Cows produce twice as much manure as milk, yet this resource is considered a waste regardless of its history of useful application.

Actors:

Cow The Udder Way (Paul Cotter, Gareth Morris, Heidi Rustgaard, Eike Sindlinger, Ulrike Steven, Susanne Thomas); three stockmen; residents of Toxteth

Location: Toxteth, Liverpool, United Kingdom, July 2005

Tools: Five cows, five calves, milking parlour

Gardening

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