'C.O.W.' comes home

Every semester, students attempt to guarantee themselves their fifteen minutes of fame by picking up a Warhol for just five dollars. Visions of owning a Picasso drive students to pitch tents outside the Allen Memorial Art Museum, waiting for their chance to rent a piece of art history. But by the second hour of art rental, most students who come with dreams of Rothkos leave with Wilkies.

The Allen Memorial Art Museum art rental program was established in 1940 by Professor Ellen Johnson to give students the chance to live with art. Students can choose their companions from among 300 pieces.

"C.O.W." by Hannah Wilkie is one of those pieces. "C.O.W." was largely ignored by students previewing the collection on Wednesday. The picture of a cow suspended in mid-air was bypassed by students meticulously marking their favorites in pocket notebooks in favor of larger, brighter works.

"C.O.W." started to command attention by mid-morning on Thursday. The collection had been whittled down to a few dozen works by early morning renters.

"It is bare!" exclaimed first-year Brendan Ravenhill as he walked up and down the halls of the Ripin Art Gallery that house the art rental collection. Ravenhill wasn't comforted much by finding "C.O.W." among the remains.

"I don't think I like it too much," he said.

Visiting Professor of Art Stanley Matthews examined the work as its neighbors were being rapidly snapped up. "It's a midwestern daydream," he said.

"I like it, actually," said senior Mark Dow. "I don't know what it means, but it's a nice picture of a cow."

Sophomore Sabine Rogers declined the invitation to hang "C.O.W." on her walls. "This?" Rogers said, keeping the work at arms length, "Well, I have no intention of renting this."

Museum security officer Tim Diewald concurred with Rogers' assessment. "It looks like a guy dreaming about cows," he said. "It wouldn't go with my house."

First-year Kathy Kort wasn't quite sure what to make of "C.O.W." "It sort of bewildered me," she said. Kort decided she'd just have to live with it.

"At first it just looked like a floating cow," she said. "I think if I'm around it enough it might make sense to me."

Soon after Kort had declared her intentions to rent the work, Dow began to express interest in claiming "C.O.W." for himself. "It's a cool little piece," he said.

"I didn't really notice that one," said senior Rebecca Ratzkin, noticing the commotion surrounding "C.O.W." "But look at that," she said pointing to a detailed area beneath the cow.

Kort carried C.O.W. and another selection to the check-out. "It's got a linear reflection," said Joe Gargasz as he wrapped up "C.O.W." for the journey home. "I think it's fun."

Is it 9:00 a.m. yet?: Students pulled an all-nighter Wednesday while waiting for their favorite works at the AMAM rental. (photo by Heidi Good)