Metallum et Speculum
Gallery West, University of Texas at Arlington, 2019
Metallum, et Speculum explores porcelain enamel production in post-industrial revolution America. Originating from the decorative arts & crafts production of glass on fine metals such as copper, silver, and gold for the enjoyment of the aristocracy, porcelain enamel on carbon steel became the façade of an industrial era, cladding our appliances, our public signage both commercial and authoritarian, coating the edifices of transportation, and was considered the next evolution in architectural facing. German immigrants to the United States created enormous companies in the early 20th century researching, developing, batching, and supplying millions of tons of this glass coating. Like many American industries in the late 20th century the porcelain enamel industry in the United States fell rapidly into decline. Its dramatic fall; a mixture of the cost-analytics of newer cheaper alternatives, consumer tastes, and other general economic forces. Metallum, et Speculum is an installation that adapts this once ubiquitous industrial processes back into the arts & crafts studio from where it was originally derived. It is a formal and anthropological assessment of these oscillating cultural applications and an archeological study in the material’s chemical processing, production, and distribution.
Installation Views
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