Chicken Feathers

Accession Number
1999/1.95

Title
Chicken Feathers

Artist(s)
Keith Carter

Artist Nationality
American (North American)

Object Creation Date
1999

Medium & Support
gelatin silver print on paper

Dimensions
15 1/4 in x 15 1/4 in (38.7 cm x 38.7 cm);24 1/16 in x 20 1/8 in (61.12 cm x 51.12 cm);19 15/16 in x 16 in (50.6 cm x 40.6 cm)

Credit Line
Museum purchase made possible by the W. Hawkins Ferry Fund

Subject matter
This photograph depicts a centralized composition of three children standing outdoors in what appears to be a yard before a shed’s walls. Scattered upon the dark earth beneath their feet, the yard is dotted with white chicken feathers. The smiling children are wearing costumes and hats, two wearing shirts too large for them, so that they fall baggily about their bodies. The boy on the right wears white gloves and a pair of tight pants with white skeleton bones emblazoned on it. All three children hold ignited sparklers in their right hands, which send up vaporous clouds of smoke before their faces. The children’s smiling expressions and their outfits evoke associations of childhood play and whimsy, the incendiary glow of the sparklers imparting a palpable sense of magic.

Physical Description
This photograph depicts a view of three costumed children holding sparklers in a yard.  On the ground there are chicken feathers strewn about.

Primary Object Classification
Photograph

Collection Area
Photography

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.

Keywords
Figures
children
children (people by age group)
costume components
feathers (animal components)
fireworks (explosive equipment)
house
play (recreation)
sheds (storage structures)
smoke
sneakers
standing
youth (life stages)

26 Related Resources

Children and Childhood
(Part of 7 Learning Collections)
Visual Forms of the Avant Garde - a survey
(Part of 3 Learning Collections)
PAST- F18 Makman - ENGLISH 313 - Fantasies of Childhood (study case display)
(Part of: FFW Lower Level Study Cases     )
F19 Makman - ENGLISH 313 - Fantasies of Childhood Study Case
(Part of: Resources Made by Isabel Engel)
Kindergeist
(Part of: Kinder in der Kunst)
F20 Makman - ENGLISH 313 Fantasies of Childhood
(Part of: Resources Made by Isabel Engel)

& Author Notes

All Rights Reserved

On display

UMMA Gallery Location ➜ FFW, Mezzanine ➜ M05 (Jan and David Brandon Family Bridge)