Evolution of American Culture: The Afro Pick 1962 to 2015
This artwork tracks the development of the Afro Pick from its African roots to its modern day incarnation and uses this evolution as a metaphor for the progress of American cultural objects from one-of-kind custom objects to mass produced, but highly utilitarian tools.
In 1962, San Diegan Dr. William Morrow received a handmade afro pick made in Africa from a friend. Dr. Morrow, a barber, had been hired by the US military to teach military barbars how to cut the hair of African-Americans in the newly integrated armed forces. On receiving the pick, he set about redesigning the ornate, hand-carved comb so that it could be produced efficiently and inexpensively. This artwork tracks the evolution of the pick from its beginnings to its modern day iteration.
Just as the afro pick’s development progressed from one-of-kind to handmade, from all wood to wood and metal, to plastic and metal, to 100% plastic, so to have many of the other objects in our lives - from furniture to automobiles.
Printed 2019, Framed Size 72”x20”