Gallus Gallus: urban chickens as an art piece

Raising chickens within a locavore-conscious urban landscape as art? You betcha!

Chris Tourre has posted a description of the proposal for Gallus Gallus, a socially oriented art piece.

The proposal reads, in part:

Gallus Gallus will introduce the local community the benefits and plausibility of raising chickens, for eggs, in an urban setting. The program will be centered at an egg-producing coop located amongst community gardening. The eggs harvested would be delivered, free of charge, to low-income families. These families must demonstrate an interest in changing their dietary habits, but don’t have the means to do so.

The “milkman” is an important figure in Gallus Gallus. In the past, milkmen would deliver dairy products to families’ who did not have markets near their home or did not have the necessary transportation. Milkmen delivered to families’ homes nutritious foods that they could not access.

Gallus Gallus will reintroduce the “milkman”. The contemporary milkman once again provides families with inaccessible nutritious foods. In this case, locally grown fresh eggs. The contemporary milkman uses the social setting of a home delivery to advocate the benefits of locally grown foods, inform the family of simple strategies they can implement in their own home, and recipes specific to eggs. The eggs delivered will become token reminders of the possibilities for everyone to participate in the locovore movement.

You can see Chris's coop designs and other details or leave a comment on the Gallus Gallus proposal by visiting christourre.com.

I, for one, really like this proposal, and I hope it becomes a real art project in Chicago.