Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire - Concrete Cows - postcard c.1980 (see cond.)

• Postcard

   

• Picture / Image:  The Concrete Cows [famous feature of early Milton Keynes]
• Publisher: Milton Keynes Development Corporation
• Postally used: yes
• Stamp:  14p Machn
• Postmark(s): Milton Keynes 1981 
• Sent to:  Chippenham, Wilts.
• Notes / condition: NB - has a certain amount of light wear due to postal use but a sought after card

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Image may be low res for illustrative purposes - if you need a higher definition image then please contact me and I may be able to send one. No cards have been trimmed (unless stated).

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NOTE: All postcards are sent in brand new stiffened envelopes which I have bought for the task. These are specially made to protect postcards and you may be able to re-use them. In addition there are other costs to sending so the above charge is not just for the stamp!

I will give a full refund if you are not fully satisfied with the postcard.

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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The Concrete Cows in Milton Keynes, England are an iconic work of sculpture, created in 1978 by the Canadian artist Liz Leyh.^[1] There are three cows and three calves, approximately half life size.

The Cows are constructed from scrap, skinned with fibre glass reinforced concrete donated by a local builder.^[2]

The artist was an "artist-in-residence" in the early days of Milton Keynes and part of her role was to lead community participation in art. The Cows was one of a number of pieces created during her stay.^[2] Other examples of her work here include The Owl and The Pussy Cat at Netherfield and a concrete mural near the leisure centre at Stantonbury. They were originally constructed at Stacey Hill Farm near Wolverton, where she had set up her studio. The base armatures were metal, with chicken wire used to create the general shape, then stuffed with newspaper. The original colouring of the cows was achieved using dyes. Some cows were brown. It is only through the council painting the cows that the uniform black and white has appeared. The artist also ensured that each cow had a heart shape used as part of the pattern on the cow skin.

Later commentators have interpreted it as an example of conceptual art: the artist poking fun at the preconceived notion of the new city, held by commentators who had never seen the place, that it would consist entirely of concrete pavements where once there were fields, and where its deprived children would need models to know how real cows once looked.^[3] The reality of course was different: Milton Keynes Development Corporation was building "a city in the forest", with substantially more open green space than found in traditional cities. Furthermore, there are real farms with real cows within 2 miles (3 km) of the site, and the cows are currently located in a real field.