-Uncle Sam- mechanical bank c. 1976

This curious Uncle Sam mechanical bank was made by an anonymous artist and is now at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. I'm immediately drawn to the odd textures of this patriotic sculpture, its flat planes, and the way it must feel to touch. I imagine the creator, surrounded by plastic and paint, meticulously constructing this icon of American identity. I can almost feel the tension in their hands as they fit each piece together, and the focus in their eyes as they paint the details. The strange, artificial colors of the red, white and blue are sort of loud, and they remind me of folk art, or the colorful, graphic work of someone like Philip Guston. The artist has done an outstanding job with this bank. It makes me wonder about its original context and how it relates to other mechanical folk art. Ultimately, artworks like these are part of an ongoing conversation about identity and symbolism. They're physical, embodied expressions that invite us to imagine how someone else sees the world.