Cyclic Hotline
19th Jul 2001, 18:30
Berlin Teen Fails to Stop Exploding Cow Spectacle :eek:
BERLIN, July 19 (Reuters) - An Austrian artist will drop a dead cow from a helicopter on Thursday as part of a controversial performance after an animal-loving Berlin teenager failed in a last-ditch attempt to stop the event.
Patrizia Strunz, 13, told a Berlin court that watching a cow flying through the air and exploding on landing could trigger a "spiritual shock," but the court rejected her complaint.
As part of a planned performance in Berlin's trendy Prenzlauer Berg district by artist Wolfgang Flatz, the cow will be dropped 40 metres (130 feet) from a helicopter and will then explode, thanks to a pyrotechnic "stuffing."
Flatz, 48, will be hanging naked from a crane at the site, with bleeding Christ-like wounds on his hands and feet.
After the cow explodes, organisers say Flatz's own blood will drip onto couples waltzing to string quartet music below.
A local official told the Berliner Zeitung newspaper that although the performance has provoked much criticism, it cannot be banned as the dead cow has the legal status of food.
"Throwing food around is not illegal," said a city official. However, regulations require the cow be gutted and tested for mad cow disease before the performance called "Meat."
Animal rights protesters slammed the performance.
"It is disgusting. Of course we condemn it," said Claudia Pfister, spokeswoman for a Berlin animal rights group.
The performance could lead to copycat actions, such as people throwing their pet dogs out of the window, Pfister said.
Flatz has previously made himself a human doormat in front of a Munich art school and had darts thrown at his naked body. He spent New Year's Eve 1990 as a human bell, suspended head downwards bashing against steel sheets until he became unconscious.
BERLIN, July 19 (Reuters) - An Austrian artist will drop a dead cow from a helicopter on Thursday as part of a controversial performance after an animal-loving Berlin teenager failed in a last-ditch attempt to stop the event.
Patrizia Strunz, 13, told a Berlin court that watching a cow flying through the air and exploding on landing could trigger a "spiritual shock," but the court rejected her complaint.
As part of a planned performance in Berlin's trendy Prenzlauer Berg district by artist Wolfgang Flatz, the cow will be dropped 40 metres (130 feet) from a helicopter and will then explode, thanks to a pyrotechnic "stuffing."
Flatz, 48, will be hanging naked from a crane at the site, with bleeding Christ-like wounds on his hands and feet.
After the cow explodes, organisers say Flatz's own blood will drip onto couples waltzing to string quartet music below.
A local official told the Berliner Zeitung newspaper that although the performance has provoked much criticism, it cannot be banned as the dead cow has the legal status of food.
"Throwing food around is not illegal," said a city official. However, regulations require the cow be gutted and tested for mad cow disease before the performance called "Meat."
Animal rights protesters slammed the performance.
"It is disgusting. Of course we condemn it," said Claudia Pfister, spokeswoman for a Berlin animal rights group.
The performance could lead to copycat actions, such as people throwing their pet dogs out of the window, Pfister said.
Flatz has previously made himself a human doormat in front of a Munich art school and had darts thrown at his naked body. He spent New Year's Eve 1990 as a human bell, suspended head downwards bashing against steel sheets until he became unconscious.