Cattle (bulls and steers)

Cattle (bulls and steers) enter the diary in two sharply different settings during Andy Warhol’s visit to Colorado State University in 1981. First, a cow is brought out for a campus photograph; the next day, Warhol and his companions observe a class demonstration of bull reproduction. In both scenes, the animals are seen through human purposes—publicity, photography, or agricultural instruction—rather than given a perspective of their own.

A Cow as a Campus Image

On September 1, during a day of television appearances, Warhol poses with a cow in front of Campbell’s Soup Cans. The animal makes the campus visit into a readily legible picture: the celebrated artist, the familiar image of the soup cans, and a live cow brought over from the university’s agricultural program. Warhol records the pose as fun, then moves on to the television interviews. The cow’s brief appearance is thus part of a public schedule, captured as an episode in Warhol’s ongoing visibility rather than as an encounter developed for its own sake.

The Bull and the Steer in Class

The following day, a class demonstrates the collection of semen from a bull. The group is shown a steer whose head is held in a restraint. An instructor explains that other male steers mounted him when he was young, that he was separated after this behavior was noticed, and that he is now used in an experiment involving a bull. The diary conveys the explanation in blunt, sexualized terms, making the animals’ bodies and assigned roles the center of the scene.

Warhol’s companion Christopher Makos runs out of film and is eager to photograph the bull’s penis. The bull is brought over and mounts the steer; although the bull ejaculates, the semen is not collected from that attempt. The instructor then retrieves an artificial vagina, and after the bull mounts again and ejaculates, the group goes into the office to watch the semen being removed from the device. The account follows the procedure from the steer’s restraint to the examination of the collected material, emphasizing the demonstration’s practical handling and visual detail.

Animals as Spectacle and Material

Together, the episodes move from a cow arranged for a campus photograph to cattle observed within a reproductive experiment. The cow’s appearance is brief and public; the bull-and-steer demonstration is narrated at length, with attention to bodies, equipment, and the sequence of procedures. In neither account does the animal receive an independent voice or interior life. Instead, cattle occupy roles shaped by human looking: the cow completes an image, while the bull and steer become the objects of instruction, photography, and observation.