American Artist, Data Server Rack, 2019
This sculptureĀ responds to the phenomenon of āSilicon Prairieā resulting from venture capital that has been funneled into the Midwest over the last two decades. In recent years an increasing number of tech entrepreneurs and computer programmers from San Jose have moved to the Midwest for job opportunities comparable to those in Silicon Valley. The relationship between the high tech industry and agriculture has a precedent in Santa Clara Valley California where the fruit industry that prospered in the early 20th century was eclipsed by the tech sector by the 1960s.
Within the same two decades that Silicon Prairie has attracted many young white male VCs to the Midwest, the USDA has been part of the largest civil rights lawsuit in the history of the United States because of loans that were denied to black farmers for over a decade. After failing to adequately award settlements to petitioning farmers in the Pigford v. Glickman lawsuit, successive bills were authorized allowing additional farmers to apply for payouts. The most recent bill, Pigford II, was settled in 2010 for which applicable farmers didnāt receive payment until 2013.
This sculpture draws a parallel between the shape of a data server rack: a modest utilitarian device usually unseen by consumers that provides the infrastructure for the cloud, and a handmade hay bailing machine: a niche tool to alleviate costs for farmers, made from wood and found materials in order to create industry-standard bales of hay.