A flock of rare Paduan chickens cluck and flap in Hope Sandrow’s Open Air Studio, an installation that she created in the backyard of her century-old home in Southampton, New York. Sandrow, known for intermingling an eclectic range of media, from photography to performance, is also quick to pounce on oddball happenstance, as she did when an exotic white cockerel followed her home from a morning walk, and then stayed. She named him Shinnecock, after the ancient Indian grounds where they met.
During one of their daily jaunts, Sandrow and Shinnecock stumbled on Gissu Bu (Mystery House), an old Scandinavian-designed lodge slated for demolition. They went in and discovered a carved rooster gazing toward a window bearing the manufacturer’s metal stamp, “Hope’s Lokd Bar” (Hope’s Window). Sandrow, who believes in signs and follows them to see if they lead to a point worth making, researched the site and then roused her community to save the historic property from developers. She also identified her mysterious feathered muse as a Paduan chicken, a species coveted by breeders who raise them as show birds and alter their setting instincts to control their attributes.1 Appalled, Sandrow purchased a pair of Eves for Shinnecock.
...see the entire article in the print version of March's Sculpture magazine.
Coop LeWitt South, 2009. Plastic sheeting and wood, 5 x 5 x 10 ft.