Graham Square - The Calf

Image: © Lairich Rig Taken: Unknown

"Animals came from over the horizon They belonged there & here They were both mortal & immortal Each lion was lion & Each ox was ox" So runs the inscription at the base of this statue of a garlanded calf. It stands in a square that is enclosed on the west by an old stone facade with a new building behind it; the facade bears horned heads, namely, those of a bull and a ram: http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/949397 and http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/949398 (compare http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1328345 in Coatbridge). To the north, another horned head, that of a bearded man, peers down beneath a clock face: http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/949401 The south side of the square is open to the street (the Gallowgate), but a tower on the other side is painted with a black cattle skull and garland: http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/949405 "The Calf" (1998-2000) is one of many public artworks sculpted by Kenny Hunter that are to be found in Glasgow and in surrounding areas; for other works by Kenny Hunter, see: http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1015330 The inscription that runs around around the base was carved by J.B.Kemp, and is drawn from an anthropological text ("Why look at animals?") by John Berger. The horned heads in carved stone nearby, and the tower with its skull and garland, are much older than this statue. Taken together, these works give the place a strange sacrificial aura. This seems appropriate: immediately to the north of Graham Square there was formerly an abattoir; in turn, to the north of the abattoir was the cattle market. Car auctions are now held in the site of the former cattle market. I have watched these take place, and was struck by just how closely they followed the format of the cattle auctions (the setting, too, was largely unchanged): each car was wheeled out in turn to the centre, to the spot where the cattle would have been presented. Interested onlookers would then come up en masse and hurriedly inspect the car from all sides, with some trying to examine the underside. Likewise, the proceedings were as fast-paced as when livestock were being auctioned: after only a minute or two of this general inspection, the bidding would begin.

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