A Cow-munity in Tokyo!
The cow-munity is made up of over 70 pieces of bovine art in Tokyo’s Marunouchi district and they aren’t just loafing around! They are part of Cow Parade 2008. Fiberglass replicas of cows and calves have been decorated by local celebrities and the resulting bovine art won’t be put out to pasture after this unique art exhibit in downtown Tokyo, they will be auctioned off to support social welfare organizations.
I found eighteen cows as I walked along Marunouchi-Nakadori Avenue between Yurakucho and Tokyo Stations. The artists created some surreal cows - some were subdued, many were very bright and a few were just a little strange. The one that made me laugh out loud looked as if she had was headed home from a very long night out on the town with her fishnet stockings a little worse for wear - I’m calling her the S&M cow!
The Cow Parade was started 10 years ago in Switzerland and has made appearances in Paris and New York. This is the third time the event is being held in Tokyo. The Cow Parade 2008 will be on display until October 19th so you will want to get a mooo-ve on if you want to see them before they are herded off to their new homes!
This slide show features the 18 cows that I encountered on my walk this past weekend:
Which was your favorite member of the cow-munity in the Tokyo 2008 Cow Parade?
Image Credit: Personal Collection
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September 16th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
Are these painted by Japanese artists or are the the ones that have been in New York and around the world?
September 16th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Oh and I can’t choose between the Milky Way one (gets points for pune lol) and the yakuza cow!!
September 17th, 2008 at 1:58 am
I like the top photo, nice (cow) eye level composition.
I like that embedded Flickr slideshow too! Is that a new option on Flickr? I haven’t seen anyone use a slideshow like that before.
Ah, I see though that it does cause massive CPU usage in Firefox 3 for OS X though, as they always have.
September 17th, 2008 at 9:03 am
Danielle, unfortumately I did not take shots of the plaques with the cow’s names and artists. From what I recall, most of the artists were local celebrities but there were a few international submissions although I didn’t recognize any names.
I did like the carp cow which I think is the one you a referring to as the yakuza cow.
Jason, I found out about the Flickr slide show by accident but it is an easy way to show multiple shots without taking up a ton of screen space.
Thank for you compliment on the composition. I have recently become a fan of changing my perspective when taking shots. I have to admit that I didn’t give a lot of thought to creating quality shots this time as I was rather enthusiastic about documenting the exhibit and kept looking ahead rather than focusing (pardon the pun) on where I was at.
September 17th, 2008 at 10:12 am
Yeah, I was listening to a TWIP podcast I believe and Scott Bourne (pro photographer) talked about how he shoots his subjects at eye level (if they have eyes and even if they don’t). He said if people take shots of their dogs, they often shoot down no the dog, which can be ok, but shooting at the dog’s eye level can often produce a better shot.
I followed that advice on my most recent photo session and liked the results.
Thanks for the Flickr code!
September 17th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Sorry I had to laugh : ) Cows in Tokyo… I think that’s great. Does make me think a little bit of Milton Keynes in the UK though - they had concrete cows as part of the landscape too.
September 17th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
It is kind of funny to see Honor! Some of them are definitely eye-catching -I’m just glad that they are temporary.
I do wonder who will bid on the S&M cow though, and where it might end up - my imagination runs a bit wild there I have to admit.
September 18th, 2008 at 6:15 am
[...] Shane, who took a series of 18 photos, including this one, provides some background and details at The Tokyo Traveler. [...]
September 18th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
Shane! Do you know your blog was feature on CNN - congratulations to you : ) http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-87643?ref=feeds%2Foncnn
I hope that link works!
September 19th, 2008 at 12:35 am
Teehee cat’s out of the bag Shane!! Big public congrats from me too ^_^
September 19th, 2008 at 10:12 am
Thanks Honor and Danielle! I hope to have an exciting link in that regard to share with everyone later next week so stay tuned…
September 19th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Now that’s teasing! I’m watching this space : )
September 28th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
[...] As seen on CNN! Check out this weeks Offbeat iReport images to see one of my shots from the Tokyo Cow Parade 2008. [...]
October 11th, 2008 at 12:47 am
[...] bovine art? You’ve probably never read about as interesting a collection as this one. Shane does a good job of putting you right there with her at the Cow Parade. It’s an amusing [...]