Waiting for Cows

Waiting for Cows (currently in development) is an interactive storytelling project that explores the complex relationship between humans, animals and technology. Set on a Friesian farm, the main protagonist is a Dutch dairy cow monitored by wearables, conditioned by algorithms and quantified in data. 

Dairy bovines and their farmers have become some of the unlikely forerunners of agricultural automation. Both human and animal are entangled in capitalist systems of efficiency, productivity and time management where every cow is assigned a Key Performance Indicator by agri-tech companies. Waiting for Cows offers rare glimpses into contemporary machinic rituals of farm life where the flow of bovine data reveals much larger systems of power. 

We follow Aergentina 4, a mixed breed dairy cow, as she takes us through her technology routines on the farm. We are introduced to the robot that milks her three times a day. We follow her biometric data streaming into the farmer’s phone from the sensor embedded in her neck collar. We encounter her friends in the herd. Set against this backdrop of technology and control, the Waiting for Cows immersive installation reveals an allegorical tale, opening space for reflection.

Experience
Film scenes of the farm location in Friesland are activated by near-real time cow data, collapsing the ever-widening gap between rural and urban experience.The timing of the narrative rests with the herd. Data streamed from cow wearables determine the pace at which visitors view the story. The unfolding narrative shifts beyond glaring questions of technology and capital, towards the more subtle and lesser-felt rhythms of farm life. Presented as a cinematic meditation on kinship and human relationships with otherness, Waiting for Cows is an invitation to visitors to reflect on contemporary concerns of care.

Background
Waiting for Cows is set against the looming backdrop of massive changes for Dutch farmers due to European policy and climate change agendas. Survival tactics, heightened industrialisation, powerful technology companies and painful transitions are all searing influences on this interactive storytelling project. To unpack these elements of the project, affect lab has embarked on a 2-year-long research programme to seek out deeper insights in the field. The results will ultimately be displayed alongside the work and be available in a forthcoming publication.

Waiting for Cows is currently in development, with an expected premiere in November 2024. Created in collaboration with filmmaker Ruben Hamelink, Farmhack founder Anne Bruinsma and CCC productions with support from the Creative Industries Immerse Interact Fund.