Status: In Distribution
Waiting for cows explores the complex relationship between humans, animals and technology. Set on a Frisian farm, the main protagonists are a trio of Dutch dairy cows 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 systems of efficiency, productivity and time management where every cow is assigned a Key Performance Indicator by agri-tech companies. Through a data-led film experience, 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, Margot 104 and Robina 117 — all mixed breed dairy cows — as they move through their technology routines on the farm. We are introduced to the robot that milks them twice a day. We follow their biometric data streaming into the farmer’s phone from the sensor embedded in their neck collars. We encounter their 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.
Credits
Waiting for cows by affect lab
Directors: Klasien van de Zandschulp & Dr. Natalie Dixon
Creative Producer: Juliette Brederode
Production Assistant: Maria Hadjicosti
Design Researchers: Emma Lambaa-Bonde & Minnie Bates
Creative Coders: Madhu Srinivasa & Rob Bothof
Cinematographer: Ruben Hamelink
Sound: Gerben Kokmeijer & Diego van Uden
Editor: Lianne Kotte
Graphic Designers: Sasha Fominskaya, Guanyan Wu, Pedro Lobo
Producer: K.O. Productions
Distribution: Marieke Nooren
Advisors: Anne Bruinsma & Victor Muñoz Sanz
With special thanks and appreciation to Fokke Terpstra & Tineke de Groot
Exhibited at
– June 2 – June 4 (2025) at Karavaan festival, Alkmaar.
April 18 – May 18 (2025) solo show at VHDG, Leeuwarden.
– December 13 (2024) – March 16 (2025) at MU Hybrid Art House, Eindhoven as part of the group exhibition Sensing Otherness.
– July 12 – September 7 (2025) at De Proef, Drenthe; part of the Noorderlicht Biennale Machine Entanglements.
– 26 September – 2 October (2025), as part of the Golden Calf Selection for Best Digital Culture Production at the Netherlands Film Festival (NFF) in Utrecht.
With the kind support of: Netherlands Film Fund, Creative Industries Fund NL, Fonds 21, Fonds ZOZ, Cultuurfonds
Nominated for a Golden Calf for Best Digital Culture Production at the Netherlands Film Festival 2025.
