‘Dungright’ offensive

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) – A sculpture of a New Zealand government minister crafted from cow manure sold for New Zealand dollars 3,080 (US$2,220) on an auction website.

The bust of New Zealand Environment Minister Nick Smith, sculpted as a protest by artist Sam Mahon, attracted 112 bids before being picked up by an anonymous buyer on Friday.

Mahon said he created the sculpture, and chose the medium, to protest what he considers Smith’s too-soft stance on pollution created by dairy farms. He said the bust did not smell and would last forever.

“The sculpture has a hollow head, which is very fitting. It is highly polished and sits on the stand slightly to the right of centre,” Mahon said.

Mahon gathered cow dung from an organic dairy farm, ground it in a coffee grinder, mixed it with a polymer resin and pressed it into a mold. He polished the sculpture with beeswax to create a finish that resembles bronze.

Smith joked about the tribute Friday.

“Excuse the pun, but I would describe it as crap art,” he said.

Mahon’s said he will use the proceeds from the auction to help clean up waterways polluted by effluent from dairy farms near his home.

Hot-rod recliner

DULUTH, Minnesota (AP) – The motorised chair belonging to a man arrested for driving it into a parked car last year while drunk has sold for $10,099.99.

Proctor Police Chief Walter Wobig didn’t immediately know the winning bidder’s name or hometown after it was sold at a eBay auction Thursday, according to the Duluth News Tribune.

Wobig says international media attention helped fuel the bidding.

The chair was built by Dennis LeRoy Anderson. He had pleaded guilty to driving the motorised chair with a blood-alcohol level nearly four times the legal limit.

Anderson says he expected the chair would fetch only $2,000 to $3,000.

The recliner is powered by a lawnmower engine. It comes equipped with a stereo, cup holders and lights.

Grand theft auto

VALLEJO, California (AP) – The California Highway Patrol say a man stole a car to make a court appearance on a previous auto theft charge.

Patrol investigator Chris Linehan says he arrested Samuel Botchvaroff Tuesday as he sat inside a stolen 2000 Range Rover at the Vallejo courthouse. The 24-year-old Botchvaroff had just left his arraignment on auto theft charges stemming from an October 31 arrest.

Linehan said the Range Rover’s LoJack system helped him locate the vehicle, which had been stolen from Oakland earlier Tuesday morning.

Authorities say Botchvaroff told officers his car had been impounded, and he had no other way to get to his arraignment.

He was booked into Solano County Jail on suspicion of auto theft and possession of stolen property.