Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. Lund, Karsten (Museum curator)
2. Øvstebø, Solveig
3. University of Chicago. Renaissance Society, host institution. http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/his
4. Wexner Center for the Arts, host institution. http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/his

Description

1. 391 pages : illustrations (some color); 24 x 31 cm

Summary

1. As the General Motors plant in Lordstown, Ohio halted production and faced possible closure, displacing its workers, artist LaToya Ruby Frazier joined with these workers, their families, and their local union leaders to tell the story of the plant in its final days. After more than fifty years of automobile production and a commitment to manufacture the Chevrolet Cruze until 2021, the facility was recently "unallocated" by GM, as the company shifts its focus toward overseas manufacturing and the production of electric and autonomous vehicles. For many, this meant uprooting their families and giving up the support of a close-knit community. Those who turned down transfers to GM plants in other states lost their income, pensions, and benefits. The Last Cruze, which sets out to amplify the voices of the auto workers in Lordstown, introduces a new chapter to Frazier's work in investigating labor, family, community, and the working class. Exhibited at the Renaissance Society in 2019, this body of work includes over sixty photographs, alongside the written stories of the workers, and was staged within an installation that echoes the structure of the plant's assembly line. This substantial catalogue includes extensive documentation of the work and introduces new essays and dialogues by contributors including Coco Fusco, David Harvey, Werner Lange, Lynn Nottage, Julia Reichert, Benjamin Young, and members of the local chapter of the United Auto Workers. Exhibition: The Renaissance Society, Chicago, USA (14.09-01.12.2019) / Wexner Center of the Arts, Columbus, USA (31.01-12.04.2020).

Subject

1. Plant shutdowns
2. Automobile factories
3. Automobile industry workers
4. Documentary photography
5. Frazier, LaToya Ruby, 1982-
6. Portraits
7. Pictorial works
8. Ohio > Lordstown
9. Plant shutdowns > Ohio > Lordstown > Pictorial works
10. Automobile factories > Ohio > Lordstown > Pictorial works
11. Automobile industry workers > Ohio > Lordstown > Portraits

Genre/Form

1. Pictorial works.
2. Portraits.

Contents

1. Works in the exhibition -- Conversation / David Green and Rick Smith, UAW Local 1112, and LaToya Ruby Frazier -- Conversation / Pamela Brown, Marilyn Moore, and Frances Turnage, UAW Local 1112 Women's Committee, and LaToya Ruby Frazier -- Timeline -- How to organize a union in your workplace -- The human element / Coco Fusco -- Photography at the factory gates / Benjamin J. Young -- Installation views -- Assembly in the sanctuary / Karsten Lund and Solveig Øvstebø -- Conversation / David Harvey and LaToya Ruby Frazier -- Conversation / Julia Reichert, Senator Sherrod Brown, and LaToya Ruby Frazier -- Conversation / Lynn Nottage and LaToya Ruby Frazier -- Taking a stand against corporate cruelty / Werner Lange.

Note

1. Published on the occasion of an exhibition held at The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, September 14-December 1, 2019, and at The Wexner Center for the Arts at the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, February 1-August 23, 2020.