Bodily Study of Unthinking Groups

2016 - Sculpture (Sculpture)

Matthew Angelo Harrison

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In Bodily Study of Unthinking Groups, Harrison combines two disparate materials into one stratified stack: automotive clay (used in detailing cars) forms the earthy base, while fragments of zebra skull become imbedded in this falsified soil. Harrison’s forged archeological artifact compresses two cultural contexts together: that of Africa, represented by the bleached zebra skull; and that of Detroit, the birthplace of the American car. Detroit’s Matthew Angelo Harrison works at the intersection of sculpture and technology, building his own 3D printers (which rise to the status of sculpture), and using these creations to formulate others. This fusion makes sense when you look at his biography: born in Detroit and trained in sculpture at the Art Institute of Chicago, Harrison also works, by day, at the Ford Motor Company, creating prototypes for the cars of the future. In his artistic practice, Harrison is interested in mining available—often commercialized—forms of African culture, looking at these artifacts from the point of view of an urban African American in the twenty-first century.

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Detroit’s Matthew Angelo Harrison works at the intersection of sculpture and technology, building his own 3D printers (which rise to the status of sculpture), and using these creations to formulate others. This fusion makes sense when you look at his biography: born in Detroit and trained in sculpture at the Art Institute of Chicago, Harrison also works, by day, at the Ford Motor Company, creating prototypes for the cars of the future. In his artistic practice, Harrison is interested in mining available—often commercialized—forms of African culture, looking at these artifacts from the point of view of an urban African American in the twenty-first century.

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Colors:

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• identity.n.01
• culture.n.01
• ethnicity.n.01
• african-american.n.01
• sculpture.n.02