ENOCH (display unit)

Tavares Strachan is a conceptual artist whose work investigates science, technology, mythology, history, and exploration. Aeronautical and astronomical science, deep-sea exploration, and extreme climatology are but some of the thematic arenas out of which Strachan creates monumental performative allegories that tell of cultural displacement, human aspiration, and mortal limitation. ENOCH (display unit) is one of three editions created after the ENOCH satellite launched on a Space X rocket in 2018 that now orbits the earth until it is anticipated to burn up in the atmosphere in December 2025. The gilded urn topped with a sculpted portrait of Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr. (1935–1967), inspired by ancient Egyptian funerary canopic jars, honors the pioneering first African American astronaut, who tragically died in a test flight during the 1960s space race. The title "Enoch" refers to the name of the biblical figure who, in the artist’s words, "was able to forgo death"[1] upon entering the afterlife. The ENOCH project, created by the artist with LACMA’s Art + Technology Lab, represents the culmination of Strachan’s efforts to marry art and science, as well as to collapse ancient and future temporalities.


[1] Quoted in Jori Finkel, "Satellite to Honor Black Astronaut Pioneer," New York Times, November 14, 2018, p. C3.