Throughout history, eggs have appeared in countless artworks, serving as a universal symbol of life, growth, and transformation representing various concepts such as fertility, birth, creation, and resurrection. In many mythologies, the egg is associated with the world's birth and fertility. In ancient Egypt, for example, the Milky Way emerged from the waters as a hill of rubbish, and the god Reborn from an egg laid on this mound by a celestial bird. The egg also can represent the renewal of the cycle of nature in the context of the ceramic installation commissioned for Frieze Sculpture Park titled “The Debate” by Holly Stevenson, an oversized half-boiled egg placed near adult life-size figures. Typical of the artist’s practice, the figures are composed of abstract and figurative elements, and here they meld to form anthropomorphic birds that, on account of the glazing, recall ducks.
In response to “The Debate”, hosted by Pi Artworks and Sid Motion Gallery, in collaboration with artist Holly Stevenson we invite you to an egg act by offering a symbolic vegan egg as a gesture. While you listen to the artist and curator talk further about the work, the references and the story behind it, you will be encouraged to touch, smell and taste the vegan egg that resembles a real egg in form and texture. You’ll be invited to answer the famous riddle, “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?”.
Each Egg Act will include 88 vegan eggs to hand out with an artist edition picnic bag, so please make sure to RSVP if you wish to take one.
Learn more about Stevenson’s work for Frieze Sculpture 2023 with our film exploring her studio practice.