Portfolio in support of Fine Art degree

Makin' Chickens, part one.

The Farmyard is about farming, in particular caged chickens who have a tough time. This sculpture/sideshow is made to highlight it and contrast their plight with the sanitised version we present to children.

My main resource for factual information on caged birds comes from the RSPCA*.

For this project I'm going to need a large quantity of chickens. I have a few, but buying a lot is going to be expensive. You can buy them as spare parts at about £1 each, but buying a quantity (say 100) is probably difficult.

I might however buy some packets of chicks they are cheap...

What you can see here is the mould being taken from an existing chicken. When I've done both sides I will press mould a whole load of them in Fimo. The red is paint which will hopefully act as a release compound. If they don't work I'll be calling up Playmobil!

I also have to work out how, and if I can articulate them. At the moment fishing line or wire is the favourite, but we'll see. A prototype needs to be made!
https://www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/farm/layinghens/keyissues

The Farmyard: go or no go?

This week I have to decide if the Farmyard is go or no go. Will need the next six weeks to get it up and running. If I decide to go ahead, that's will be quite a lot of work. If I decide to drop it, then I might regret it.

This is the base playmobil farm I have been given. (Image from playmobil UK)