- Title: GERMANY: PERFORMANCE ARTIST WOLFGANG FLATZ DROPS DEAD COW FROM HELICOPTER
- Date: 21st July 2001
- Summary: AV COW-CARCASS SUSPENDED FROM A HELICOPTER (2 SHOTS) AV COW BEING DROPPED FROM THE HELICOPTER AND A FIREWORK ON THE GROUND EXPLODING MV ARTIST, FLATZ, AT NEWS CONFERENCE (2 SHOTS) SOUNDBITE (German) ARTIST, FLATZ, SAYING "It's no animal, it's a carcass, it has nothing to do with an animal. It would be wiser to think about the animals being slaughtered to keep the price of meat stable." SCU JOURNALISTS SOUNDBITE (German) ARTIST, FLATZ, SAYING "The meat industry has spent a lot of time and energy in trying to keep meat out of the headlines. An artist has come along who is going to do all he can against that." SLV NEWS CONFERENCE MV FLATZ WITH ZOOM INTO POSTER OF HIM
- Embargoed: 5th August 2001 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BERLIN, GERMANY
- City:
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Entertainment,Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVADOBS4XWTRECJRD7OUQHW2Y1S6
- Aspect Ratio:
- Story Text: An Austrian-born artist has dropped a dead cow from a helicopter as part of a controversial performance called Meat in Berlin.
German police cordoned off a main road in Berlin's trendy eastern Prenzlauer Berg district on Thursday (July 19) where several thousands had gathered to watch the performance by artist Wolfgang Flatz.
To pulsing music punctuated by the sound of a cow mooing and with an ambulance on standby, Flatz, 48, was suspended from a tall crane wrapped in a sheet streaked with blood-coloured stains.
The sheet then dropped to reveal the artist naked and with his arms held to the side as if nailed to a cross.
To cheers from the crowd, a helicopter rose from behind a building dangling the headless, skinned carcass of a cow. The corpse then plummeted about 40 metres (130 feet) into the foundations of a demolished building and a loud explosion went off.
Carrying banners reading Animals have rights too and Perversity towards animals knows no boundaries, a small group of animal rights protesters turned their backs to the act.
This disgusting spectacle clearly glorifies violence and hurts human dignity, read a leaflet they handed out to the crowd.
But at a news conference after the spectacle Flatz argued, "it's no animal, it's a carcass, it has nothing to do with an animal. It would be wiser to think about the animals being slaughtered to keep the price of meat stable."
And many spectators were clearly disappointed that some of the more gruesome expected details of the show were not carried out.
Rather than the cow exploding due to a pyrotechnic stuffing, the loud bang heard on impact came from a separate firework set off nearby, while the carcass landed relatively intact.
And while Flatz' own blood from Christ-like wounds on his hands and feet had been expected to drip onto couples waltzing to string quartet music below, the waltz took place, but safely inside a nearby building and long after the artist was down from his crane.
Flatz offered some interpretation behind his bizarre act in saying that, "the meat industry has spent a lot of time and energy in trying to keep meat out of the headlines. An artist has come along who is going to do all he can against that."
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 Years Eve 1990 as a human bell, suspended head downwards bashing against steel sheets until he lost consciousness. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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