Class Structure (2016)

A readymade sculpture consisting of two schoolhouse desks.

Original sketch of the concept.

Class Structure consists of two turn-of-the-century school-house desks, arranged as they would be in a classroom: front-to-back.

There are three spaces in the piece, each for one person to occupy at a time:

•Front Seat (Comfort and security, without labor)

•Middle Seat with work desktop (Labor, with comfort and security)

•Rear work desktop (Labor, without comfort or security)

The three spaces correspond with the upper, middle, and working classes respectively. The working class labors without the comfort or security of the classes in front of it; the middle class gets to labor with the comfort and security provided by the seat; the upper class has the seat, but does not have to labor at all. The experience of an occupant working in each of the three spaces of the piece corresponds to the experience of a person living in each of these socio-economic classes in America.

Originally commissioned by Kahlil Joseph and the Underground Museum as part of a mentorship with the MOCA Teen Program. Class Structure was later installed as an addendum to the Underground Museum’s Non-Fiction exhibition on November 9, 2016, the day after the 2016 election, where it remained for the remainder of the exhibition.