David Hammons, Untitled, 1992

Narrator: Untitled, from 1992, is an abstract mixed media artwork of variable dimensions made with human hair, wire, metallic mylar, sledge hammer, plastic beads, string, metal food tin, panty hose, leather, tea bags, and feathers. Here the work appears to be around 3 or 4 feet around. 

At first glance, this work looks like the results of a small explosion or rapid growth out of the floor. A cluster of irregular spheres of different shapes and sizes look like river stones or ostrich eggs sitting in fine black dust like ash or soot on the gallery floor. The tops of the spheres are pierced with copper wire forming the root of many spiky offshoots which reach toward the sky or droop in an arc toward the floor, like a firework. Each wire is wrapped in black human hair with gray and brown variations in color that soften the appearance of the wire offshoots. Most of the wire that is visible is at the bottom where they first emerge; however, there are some bare sections between clumps of hair toward the ends of the offshoots. Small clumps of hair sprawl in the ashy circle around the rocks on the floor as if they have gradually fallen off.

This sculpture is viewable from 360° as it sits on a low red plinth so the quality of the shadows is dependent upon the angle of the viewer. At the center of the work is a sledgehammer, a tool used for demolition. This item is not apparent from every angle but is nestled in the center. The work has a strong sense of movement, growth, or expansion as well as a rooted quality. Hammons' work often uses detritus coded as being representative of urban Black life, such as hair gathered from barbershop floors. The blend of organic and industrial materials gives an ambiguous feeling between animated and inert.