Giant Key West Chicken
I was visiting Key West and found an old landfill compactor and a trenching machine. I found out who owned them and acquired them for sculpting materials. I sent in a proposal for Sculpture Key West and was accepted. I sold my car to pay for consumables and the tireless help of a few buddies, and we constructed the rooster in six weeks. When we arrived, first, we had to build a bridge crane to lift the chicken parts. I made a deal with the local scrap metal guy and got some old crane parts that came from a navy building. Then we began the two weeks time of disassembling the old machines. Someone saw what we were doing and donated a road grader. Four more weeks of steady work on the giant rooster and it was as complete as it was going to be, there was a deadline for the opening reception, and we made it! The Giant Key West Chicken was a big success and won the Grande Esplanade Award!!
This piece was hard work and took nine hundred hours to complete. It is fitted with a dashboard and seat, hydraulic controls and cylinders. The entire body moves left and right and the beak opens and closes! This big bird now resides in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.