Client: BURNING MAN

Overview

A “Chicken and Egg Situation” is one where it is impossible to say which of two things happened first or caused the other to happen. This installation featuring both chicken and eggs takes the traditional riddle and turns it into a giant art object for play and amusement. Twenty-two feet long and fourteen feet high, it is made of tubular steel, painted rusty brown, and in its first iteration its interior was filled with a dozen gigantic leather covered eggs which were filled like bean bags.

Goals

This is standalone artwork, independent of its surroundings and comfortable in most environments. Its goal is to entertain and amuse participants, at the same time as providing easy and safe access to the artwork. Following its first install in the desert it was displayed in the Reno Playa Art Park for two years and subsequently installed in the verdant grounds of an equestrian centre in Carson City where it is enjoyed by children every day.

Process

Working from the original hand drawings by the artist Andrea Greenlees, Josh Haywood of Hylemo produced a detailed 3D model, 2D CAD layout and digital visualizations for master steelworker Andy Tibbetts to fabricate the Chicken in Reno. The leather eggs were made in London by leather company Bill Amberg in close collaboration with the artist.

Additional Information

The installation has a smooth curvilinear metal framework in the shape of a huge chicken, with a cage of tubular steel ellipses forming the body and a large circular opening at the rear, which participants climb inside via a ladder incorporated into the structure. Inside there is a pile of gigantic leather covered eggs that they can lie on and hug and frolic about in.