Nanjing Particles 1

In his award-winning practice Simon Starling investigates the social, cultural, and material implications of object-making, examining how his own artistic processes overlap with industrial production. Engaging with MASS MoCA’s industrial past, Starling’s installation began with an 1875 photograph of a group of Chinese immigrant workers brought to North Adams to break a strike at the Sampson Shoe Company (once located on what is now MASS MoCA’s campus). Literally and figuratively mining this image, Starling extracted silver grains from the photograph and presents these particles as stainless steel forms enlarged one million times their original microscopic size. Forged and hand polished by workers in Nanjing, China, the sculptures connect the museum’s past and present to global economic conditions. The shiny forms reflect the museum’s historic architecture as well as the visitors who have replaced workers in the space.

See where this picture was taken. [?]