the cows will tell you about the feed.
A couple of years ago I had this idea for an art installation in the form of a billboard along Route 66. Last summer, with the help of family and friends, we built one from scratch (I can’t say enough about the help of my brother-in-law Kale Sawatzky).
This past Easter weekend we changed out the panels on the board. Instead of a deconstructivist aesthetic, I opted for something a bit more legible. Several people have asked about the message.
The quote is from my maternal grandfather Ernest J. Cox. It’s a matter of fact statement: “The cows will tell you about the feed.” Essentially, better feed means better milk. I borrowed the quote from an advertisement for Shawnee Dairy Feed that features my grandfather, a well-known and respected dairy farmer from Bixby.
A page from an old Cox-family scrapbook
When I came across the ad in a family scrapbook, the quote stuck with me. It seemed like a proverb of sorts, a truth applicable to our present age.
It shouldn’t be lost on us that the format in which we consume much of our media is referred to as a “feed.” The world is mediated through an incessant scroll with the flick of a finger. It seems that over the past few years, in particular, our attitudes and politics—and perception of reality itself—have revealed what’s in our feed.
As I was painting these signs—along with my very able assistant Kara Fuller—the wisdom of my grandfather seemed prescient. I would hope he’s honored by the attribution.
-cf
L to R: Kara Fuller, Tanner Johnson, and Kale Sawatzky help to install new panels to the billboard.
