Cheese hand

To explore personal space and wearable objects I decided upon creating a cheese hand. To make the hand I first created a complicated two part plaster mold of my right hand. I used Monterey Jack cheese to pour into the mold but unfortunately even after the cheese was cold and solid I had to add more cheese to my creation and even then it did not look the way that I wanted it to. When the hand was done I added acrylic finger nails to the tips of the hands fingers.
I took the hand to the Mexican restaurant Cerro Grande and I left the hand on a plate. I hid my own hand and pulled my sleeve over the cheese hand so that it would appear to be apart of my body. My Fiancée and two married couples came with me for the dinner however it seemed like the men at the table were more disgusted with the sight of the cheese hand than the women which was interesting. The women were the only people who ended up participating.
I wanted the cheese hand to look as though it was my hand. The fact that it looked gross just made it more interesting. By my friends eating my hand they were taking in apart of me that could then come alive within them so part of my message has to do with cannibalism. Another important message I was trying to convey was giving an important part of me over to those I care about. Artist’s hands are very important to them and to be missing one of them would mean that they could no longer create. My friends and I discussed the project and the hand and we sort of linked it to the body of Christ. The hand was not blessed but the important of an artists hand seemed to be convincing enough. It is a blessing to be able to work creatively with your hands. Jesus gave himself up for others to help them, and although this was a foe hand and only a part of myself the meaning was giving up to those I care about a very valued part of me so that they may use it to be better people or more creative people.