The Current Season: Josh Kline at 47 Canal

Friday, April 24, 2020

Josh Kline at 47 Canal

Josh Kline uses his sculptural works to point out the problems in modern American society. His works are represented by 47 Canal and often reflected upon the social issues and political climate in America. His recent on-going series Reality Television (2019-) consisted of United States flags collaged and molded into a flatscreen television and being mounted on the wall. This series informed the audience of the divisiveness of media in the United States’ political climate. The bright contrast of red and white, along with the stars, screamed patriotism but in a negative way as flags were covered in dirt or paint. Reality Television reflected the upcoming presidential election where the debates were broadcasted throughout the nation, while reporters exaggerated stories based on their political agenda. From an outsider view, every presidential election would seem like a reality television show, dramatic yet problematic.

As part of Josh Kline’s Unemployment exhibition at 47 Canal, Desperation Dilation (2016) is a response to the decline of human labor needed in the workforce as automation and robots replaced the need of human staff. The artwork is contained in a supermarket shopping cart, filled with flesh-toned silicone shaped into recycling materials. At first glance, it could be mistaken as human limbs which could spark interest for the audience to view this work. Kline’s works also tackled the issues faced by minimum-wage workers, be it in the supermarket or in the recycling industry. As we know, recycling was expensive and did not lead to much success in America. However, as consumers, we seldom acknowledged the effectiveness of recycling and continued to fill our carts with “recyclable” materials. By using materials from daily life, it showed how easily we could slipped away from these problems and in return acted as a self-reflection for everyone to be aware and perhaps change the society for the better.