A field trip to the Wall Street Bull for on-site drawing proved difficult.  It was an early autumn day, and the mass of tourists surrounding the bull was almost impenetrable.  Some were there to see the bull, while some were more interested in the Fearless Child statue that had been placed in front of it.  The top of the Bull, untouched for the most part by intrusive hands, glimmered in the sunlight, while the bottom half, patinaed from being touched, was a dull grayish gold.

The way that the crowds swarmed the bull invoked a sort of biblical scene.  I imagined the mass of people as the unruly mob below the base of Mount Sinai, violently pushing each other to get close to their false idol.  I view the Wall Street bull as the new sort of God, which stands in as a symbol of greed and money (while that was not it’s initial intention, it’s meaning has certainly shifted over time), instead of the Christian sort of benevolent image of God.

I feel like I can’t leave out the Bulls balls.  Yes, animals have anatomical parts.  It’s just so strange to me, how everyone lined up to touch them.  The bulls balls seemed to be it’s most magical part.  Everyone wanted a piece of them.  Everyone wanted a photo.  Everyone posed in exactly the same way.  I went on Instagram later that day just to make sure the that my theories of their unoriginality were correct.  They were.

So this is the new religion: Gigantic Statues, selfies, and a fixation on balls.

The assignment for Typography class was to Graffitti the Wall Street Bull.  I imagined the Bull as a canvas for the new religion and the old to butt heads.  The Bull sylbolizes the new religion.  The graffiti would be from peopel of the old faith: Phrases such as ” Thou Shall not worship false Idols” are violently carved into the brass flesh.  The back and forth profanities from people with different opinions fill in the space.  Then there’s the peopel who troll just to instigate the situation, not really taking any side. I empathize with them the most.  I snuck in a a Buffalo Bill quote from Silence of the Lambs as well, trying to make it as profane as possible.

As a side note, this piece of art produced some internet trolling from someone who called it “an atrocity” to vandalize something that represented American resilience (I’m paraphrasing, as it was a really long message).  I think that creating art that invokes a reaction out of strangers means I’m heading in the right direction.

Also, it’s a school assignment bro.  Get over it.