It all started with a banana taped to a wall.
In Middle School Art Teacher Jayme Zimmer’s eighth-grade art classroom, she and the students discussed the infamous work Comedian as a piece of art and the artist’s intent for the piece.
Comedian is a conceptual artwork by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, first exhibited at Art Basel Miami Beach in December 2019. It consists of a single, ripe banana affixed to a wall with a single piece of duct tape. The artwork garnered international attention and controversy due to its simplistic nature and exorbitant price tag. The piece challenges conventional notions of what constitutes art, prompting viewers to consider the role of context, intention, and the art market in determining value.
Zimmer said, “We talked about ‘humor’ in art and decided to create giant chicken sculptures as our subject matter. We also did a bit of research on the global symbolism of the ‘chicken,’ looking for cultural connections. We found that many cultures worldwide use the chicken as a symbol for concepts like motherhood, fidelity, good fortune, magical powers, and prosperity. We looked at other artists who use chickens as subject matter and found the Oaxacan wood carvings especially beautiful.”
To begin, and with fun in mind, students started the chicken-making process with a large beach ball that would serve as the body. Each student learned about building a form with a variety of materials and finishing the form with papier-mâché and plaster strips.
As the chicken-building unfolded, students used AI tools to visualize their ideas. Zimmer said, “In the past, Google images only gave us existing images. Now with AI, you can generate very nuanced ideas. The creativity really flowed by taking those AI images and applying them to a sculpture the student artist created. The students had to figure out what would work for the medium and create it using their own innovations.”
Students learned how to distribute weight in their pieces so the chickens would stand, whether perched or fully standing. They foraged for rocks to work as weights inside the body and on the feet. Through trial and error, they figured out what works best for creating strong joints and connections that will allow the chicken to stand solidly.
“Between the stamina it took to add all the building layers and then finally getting to the surface, where we got to create the actual character design, students connected to their bird in a way where artists feel fulfilled when finishing a piece that they worked so long and hard on,” said Zimmer. “When looking at the final results, you can see that some students chose to work with a process, while others chose to express an idea. While many students used humor as their expression, you can see from the photos that others focused on beauty and affinity for tangible things, activities, and places they cherish.”
As our eighth graders prepare to depart from the halls of Danforth Hall, their chickens have flown the Freeman Arts Center coop and are currently on an installation art “flocking” exhibit to various places on campus. These feathered friends are a testament to their creativity, humor, and newfound understanding of what art can truly be.