Artist protests damage to environment with Nick Smith dung sculpture

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Artist protests damage to environment with Nick Smith dung sculpture

3News NZ

The cow-dung sculpture of Environment Minister Nick Smith was made in protest of damming the Hurunui River for irrigation

The cow-dung sculpture of Environment Minister Nick Smith was made in protest of damming the Hurunui River for irrigation

By Jeff Hampton
 
Cow dung has been hurled in political protests before, but now a Canterbury artist has found a new way to use dung to make a political point.

Sam Mahon has made a bust of Environment Minister Nick Smith entirely out of dairy-cow dung.

The cow dung bust was created as part of a campaign to stop the Hurunui River from being dammed for irrigation.

Mr Mahon is using his artistic talent to fight against Mr Smith, who Mr Mahon believes is working against environmentalists.

“The only way I can find to comment about this is to use the very medium that’s killing our rivers to sculpt his beautiful face,” Mr Mahon says.

The environment minister couldn’t resist taking an online peek at the cow dung bust.

“I think it’s a bit of a laugh, one of the more imaginative things,” he says. “Though I’d also say, excuse the pun, I’d call it ‘crap art’.”

The southern artist used the internet himself to line up his dung-muse.

“You just go to the good old internet and Nick’s all over it,” he says.

While the sculpture mainly consists of cow pats from a local farmer – which Mr Mahon put through a blender – beeswax and fibreglass resin were also added for solidity.

The bust is for sale on TradeMe and will go on display at an art gallery in Christchurch next week.

In the event of a non-sale Mr Mahon isn’t worried.

“I’ll just regrind it and spread it in the garden.”

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2/11/2009 11:55:06 a.m.

Karl150 wrote:

Healthy Soils Equal’s Healthy Water
The Great Carbon Con We are having the Carbon pulled over our eyes.Is the Climate change due to Carbon or are there other more sinister gases which we breath that are causing Global Warming.Google what’s in the air we breath.We all breath in:Argon .93%,Oxygen 20.95%,Nitrogen @ 78.08% + Carbon dioxide @ only .038% such a small amount!So I ask the Question Carbon at so low a rate.038% why is this being targeted as the Source of all the Worlds problems.Look at Nitrogen 78.08% + a Green house GAS 310 times worse than CO2 our intensified Farming practices are pouring on 10,000's kg of Nitrogen/yr on to pasture that doesn't need it or either can't coup with it so that over 50% of applied N ends up in the Air we Breath as Nitrous oxide and the rest passes through our over supplied soils as Nitrates into our Water ways which we Drink.When the soil is over supplied with Nitrogen Nature Shuts Down & doesn't do it's job,Earth Worms die off & Bacteria changes.When we lose EARTH Worms we end up with Very HIGH Counts E-Coli in our Drinking Water & Food Chain.Lack of Large Colonies of Healthy Earth Worm’s Means Fertilisers get Locked up in the Soil so Farmers keep needing to pore more on to get, the same results what Nature can give them for far Less Cost or Pollution.Earth Worm Casts gives Pasture 7 Times more soil Nutrients than Chemical Fertilisers can.Other sources of Nitrous Oxide are also coming from burning of Auto Fuel’s in car’s etc.At what figure is this happening?I want to know is Nitrous Oxide coming from the burning of Fossil Fuels greater than CO2? Wake up(is it Carbon)which is doing the Deed to our Climate or is it the Chemical Industries feeding our Farmers the Poison’s of there Mind's.Nature doesn't need all this added Nitrogen and Super Phosphates Acid based Fertilisers,Won’t Grow Healthy Soils,Crop's,
Live Stock!Healthy Soils will store(Sink)3Times more Carbon than the Atmosphere can.Why are We Letting them do it? K Barkley

30/10/2009 1:14:49 p.m.

Dmitry wrote:

I guess the artist's message: "he's full of b/s, just as some NZ rivers already are"?

29/10/2009 7:23:45 p.m.

Kirsty wrote:

This same thing was done in 1993 in Dunedin. The then education Minister Lockwood Smith was made from cow and sheep dung and left outside to disintegrate as his promises had disintegrated.