French ‘human hen’ artist has a crack at hatching eggs
PARIS — The French artist who spent a week entombed inside a rock began an even more bizarre feat on Wednesday — sitting on a dozen eggs until they hatch.
Abraham Poincheval aims to become a “human hen” by sitting and laying on the eggs inside a glass vitrine at a Paris modern art museum until the chicks emerge.
The performance, called “Egg”, could last three to four weeks, with the artist getting only a half-hour break every 24 hours to keep him from cracking.
He is also on a special diet rich in ginger so he can keep the eggs at a minimum of 37 C.
Poincheval, 44, made headlines earlier this month after declaring his seven days inside a rock a mind-altering “trip”.
This time, however, he looked distinctly ill at ease as he stepped into the vitrine in the Palais de Tokyo museum in his socks.
He quickly wrapped himself in a heavy traditional Korean cape and sat on a“laying table” specially designed to stop him from accidentally crushing the eggs.
While Poincheval described his time inside the limestone rock as blissful, he acknowledged that sitting on the eggs for such a long time had him worried.
“I have never been so directly exposed to the public before. Usually I am inside something. But every performance is a first,” he said.
His father Christian acknowledged that it was a test of his mental strength, with the usually amiable Poincheval avoiding eye contact with the crowds gathered around the glass case.
“He is going into himself,” his father said, describing the experience of observing his son through the vitrine as “like watching him on TV”.
Christian also promised that any “hen-men and hen-women” his son brings into the world will be allowed to live out their natural lives on his smallholding in the west of France.
Even though the rock is also egg-shaped, Poincheval said the two performances were not directly linked.
When he emerged from the rock, however, Chinese students told him the story of Sun Wukong, the Monkey King who was born from a stone egg.
Often described as France’s most extreme artist, Poincheval is no stranger to bizarre performances.
He once spent two weeks inside a stuffed bear eating worms and insects; was buried under a rock for eight days; and navigated France’s Rhone river inside a giant corked bottle.
His big dream, however, is to walk on the clouds.
“I have been working on it for five years, but it is not quite there yet,” he said.