No Vacation Days (FedEx Worker’s Foot with Nike Sneaker)
Kline’s sculptural portraits routinely address questions around the value of labor, exploitation, and their future in the face of automation. This work is an early example from the Blue Collars series (2014–20). By focusing on specific people and representative body parts, in this instance a FedEx worker whom Kline interviewed for the work, the artist assigns a sense of individuality to services and industries. No Vacation Days’s brutal frankness forces us to uncomfortably confront the ways we may disregard workers who are often severely undercompensated and whose identities are seemingly overshadowed by their corporate employers. In addition to his focused choice of subject matter, Kline is equally interested in the method of production for his work, eager to utilize and think about the possibilities for new and ever-evolving materials and processes—particularly 3D scanning, modeling, and printing. Ultimately for Kline, the labor force and art production share an uncertain future that he remains committed to exploring simultaneously.
Artwork Details
- Title: No Vacation Days (FedEx Worker’s Foot with Nike Sneaker)
- Artist: Josh Kline (American, born 1979 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
- Date: 2014
- Medium: 3D-printed sculptures in plaster with inkjet ink and cyanoacrylate, cast urethane foam packing peanuts, vinyl, cardboard, MDF
- Edition: Edition 2 of 3 + 2 AP
- Dimensions: 2024.559: 37 × 30 × 32 in. (94 × 76.2 × 81.3 cm)
- Classification: Sculpture
- Credit Line: Gift of Andrew Black and Adam Sires, 2024
- Object Number: 2024.599
- Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art
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