Focus on this artwork and discuss the abstract.
Pisupo Lua Afe (Corned Beef 2000) is a pop art sculpture created by the New Zealand artist Michel Tuffery in 1994. It is the first in a series of tin animals, made from the packaging of foods common in Samoa. Addressing his Samoan heritage, neocolonialism and the distress of indigenous peoples in the Pacific, it is one of his most celebrated works. 
"Does foreign intervention encourage cultural and economic independence - or dependence?" was the question posed by Tuffery when the sculpture was unveiled at the exhibition Bottled Ocean, curated by Jim Vivieaere, at City Gallery Wellington  in 1994. A pop art sculpture unique to the predominately Western art movement, Pisupo Lua Afe consists of a bull made of hundreds of tinned corned beef cans held together by rivets. The artwork addresses the plight of traditional Samoan cuisine and health due to the introduction of pisupo- unhealthy, commercial tinned food-  by Europeans. Now a major part of Samoan culture, foreign-produced pisupo such as corned beef has become ubiquitous across their communities both in Samoa and across the diaspora, with gifting of these items customary at weddings and birthdays. This unhealthy dependence on predominately New Zealand, Australian and American companies is inherently neocolonial in nature, showing how much lobbying power New Zealand still has in Samoa almost 60 years since independence.Tuffery aimed to portray Samoans as courageous despite the power that white-owned foreign food manufacturers wield. The bull is both representative of the animal corned beef comes from (and the environmental impact it has in Samoa, an especially climate crisis-vulnerable country), and the strength of the Samoan people to overcome colonialism. The work is on display at Te Papa Tongarewa, New Zealand's national museum and the 17th-most visited art museum in the world.
City Gallery Wellington Samoans American corned beef climate crisis Australia Michel Tuffery Te Papa Tongarewa rivets Jim Vivieaere Wellington Bottled Ocean 17th-most visited art museum in the world Australian neocolonialism Samoan City Gallery Samoan cuisine neocolonial Samoan culture pop art