Latent Emissions

Date

1998

Creator

African American artist Chakaia Booker crafts evocative sculptures from salvaged rubber--discarded ties, inner tubes, and hoses. In this example, Booker cut tires into elongated shapes like curving steel scythes or spear points, some sliced cleanly, other jagged and frayed. From certain angles, Latent Emissions looks like an erect animal, raised on its haunches and prickling with stiffened quills. The sculpture resembles traditional African works known as "power figures," which are created by carving a wooden figure then ritually adding materials such as shells, beads, or nails to empower the sculpture. from Snite Museum of Art, Selected Works: Snite Museum of Art (Notre Dame, 2005)