Cars & Cows

Pontiac Firebird | Texas Longhorn with black markings around the eyes

| Archival Pigment Print

Brown Chevrolet Nova Concours 1977 | Brown Chevrolet Impala 1964

| Archival Pigment Print

Chrysler 5th Avenue 1985 | Chevrolet Impala Sport Coupe 1978

| Archival Pigment Print

White Charolais calf | White Chevrolet El Camino 1966 with tires in front of the radiator

| Archival Pigment Print

Ford F Pick-up Truck and two Oldsmobile Achieva, all stuffed with trash

| Archival Pigment Print

Plymouth Fury III 1973 | Pontiac GTO 1968/69

| Archival Pigment Print

Cadillac Fleetwood stretch limousine | Two Black Angus cows

| Archival Pigment Print

Dirt track race car

| Archival Pigment Print

Reddish brown Cadillac Seville 1976-79

| Archival Pigment Print

A black Lincoln and a white Lincoln Towncar in front of a grain silo

| Archival Pigment Print

Indian pair of Zebu, various Ankole Watusi cattle

| Archival Pigment Print

Chevrolet Malibu with a white rooftop 1970

| Archival Pigment Print

Ford Mustang Hatchback 1979-81 | Oldsmobile Cutlass 1979

| Archival Pigment Print

Chevrolet Monte Carlo | Ford LTD Crown Victoria 1988

| Archival Pigment Print

Broken petrol station board

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White Ford Galaxy

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Small junkyard in the desert

| Archival Pigment Print

Chianina Cattle | White Karmann Ghia

| Archival Pigment Print

Scottish Highland cattle

| Archival Pigment Print

Red/white Ford | Green Chevrolet Bel Air with a white roof

| Archival Pigment Print

Two Ford Mercury

| Archival Pigment Print

Six Hereford calves and a Black Angus calf

| Archival Pigment Print

Dirt track race car No. 57 with a Lincoln SS fairing

| Archival Pigment Print

Black Angus target | Black Angus calf in front of a Peterbilt Truck

| Archival Pigment Print

Kenworth livestock truck

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Cow in livestock truck | Billboard – Win ½ Cow

| Archival Pigment Print

Young Texas Longhorn

| Archival Pigment Print

Junkyard as a film set

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Red Chevrolet Corvair First Generation 1960-64 | Texas herd of longhorns by the side of parked cars

| Archival Pigment Print

White Chrysler Imperial Crown 1964-66

| Archival Pigment Print

Pontiac Grand Prix

| Archival Pigment Print

Cars and Cows

When travelling through the United States, one frequently encounters old cars, which inevitably make you assume that they must have been beautiful once. Some of them are nothing but wrecks, rusting away in dried-up front yards. Others are lovingly maintained. In their parked state, they tell of a supposedly ideal past. Despite their nostalgic beauty, the most wrecked ones also have a dystopian air about them. It’s as if humanity disappeared after a catastrophe, and its remnants are now forever subjected to decay. And only we, as the last survivors, can imagine what it might have been like in the face of this analog scrap.

You also frequently encounter cows, these living and intriguing beings. When you look at them, they often look back with interest, as if contemplating whether we could be useful to them. With their apparent innocence, they evoke my sympathy, and I feel guilty, immediately thinking of factory farming and calves not being allowed to be with their mothers so that we can drink milk and eat meat and cheese.

Time and again, one encounters rare and beautiful breeds of cattle. The first cattle brought to America by Europeans were Longhorns. At some point, they fell through an economic sieve and are now kept by conservationists and enthusiasts to prevent their complete disappearance. A bit like the cars whose upkeep is no longer worthwhile, as they consume too much gasoline and have become prone to repairs.When you think about it further, you realize that there are even more similarities. Both cars and cows are equipped with license plates and trademarks, and both produce significant amounts of climate-damaging gases during their lifespan, which are emitted into the atmosphere. Within one year, one cow produces 100 kilograms of methane, equivalent to the CO2 emissions from driving 18,000 kilometers. Owning and driving cars, as well as keeping and consuming cattle, is becoming increasingly questionable both in terms of health and morality. But it seems hard to move away from it.

Our emotional attachment to the lovable cows and the old cars comes from the same era: a time when one could dream of social ascent and the possessions that go with it without guilt. The American dream, whose tentacles may haunt us with a romanticised past for a very long time to come.

Ute Behrend