RODNEY EWING

PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE



 
These mixed media works on paper use archival images in the form of photo silkscreens that range from Jim Crow era prison labor to the sports arena. I coat each piece with striations of color to emphasize the figures by removing a distinctive horizon line, and flattening the picture plane. Over each subject is a schematic of discarded technology to show the parallel between manufactured tools and manufactured servitude. The substrate for the information rests on vintage ledger paper that functions as an object and reinforces the narrative regarding value. I use these techniques to create compositions that reveal how commerce and production in the pursuit of advancement have relied on the exploitation of the Black body.