Photo: Ben Kelmer

This Green Rocking Chicken arose as the result of the idea to create a kind of monument consisting of a fusion of two images. In this case, it was the combination of an equestrian statue and a rocking horse. The work was commissioned by gallery owner Pearl Lam from Shanghai. When visiting the city, he overheard all sorts of news snippets and gossip about prostitutes who were referred to as ‘chickens', as he understood it. With the fantasy image of a ‘wipkip' (a childrens' playground toy), Hayon eventually came to the form of a green rocking object. Remarkably, this harmonized with traditional Chinese roof decoration. A row of mythical animals is often placed on the extremities of the curved roofs, with the last animal almost always being a figure on a chicken.

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