stefanie herr's 'oeuf.re' pays tribute to the commercial laying hen

in her latest project titled ‘oeuf.re’ barcelona-based visual artist stefanie herr takes a critical approach to the egg industry: determined to match the annual egg production of an industrial laying hen — an average of 300 eggs — herr has been producing an egg almost every day since the beginning of the year.

chef d’oeuf.re no. 02 – eggs 007-012, 1ES431230023538

painstakingly cut from cardboard and assembled by hand, each of stefanie herr’s eggs takes her about three hours to craft, making it as individual and unique as a bird’s egg. by subjecting herself to the repetitive and exhausting task of cutting and gluing a total of 8,400 card circles throughout 2016, the artist tries to synthesise the absurd existence of the oppressed and exploited individual and expose the perverse excesses of a profit-driven society.

chef d’oeuf.re no. 12 – eggs 067-069, not traceable to origin (germany)

herr packs her cardboard creations in leftover egg boxes she has been collecting mainly with the help of her family and friends. the packaging becomes the only distinctive visual feature between seemingly identical products and also determines the price of the resulting artworks.

chef d’oeuf.re no. 18 – eggs 091-096, 3ES080540016172C

in the broader sense, ‘oeuf.re’ scrutinises the prevailing mode of production that encourages uniformity and monoculture in order to maximize efficiency and profits. it aims to confront a culture that relentlessly pushes more and more individuals into precarious work, and, all too often, confuses quantity with quality, production with creation and price with value. 

chef d’oeuf.re no. 20 – eggs 103-108, 3ES4311923240-3

chef d’oeuf.re no. 31 – eggs 170-176, 2-NL-4387301

chef d’oeuf.re no. 35 – eggs 193-198, 1FROBL02

chef d’oeuf.re no. 37 – eggs 205-206, 2IT043B0075

chef d’oeuf.re no. 38, eggs 207-209, not traceable to origin (south korea)

eggs are hand cut and assembled and individually numbered on the underside

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: peter corboy | designboom