Sociopolitical Pipeline
(wood, 3’x8”x3’, January 2016)
This interactive piece features moveable knobs which represent people with visibly anonymous levels of privilege. The four colorful sections represent different "pipelines” one might follow in life and may lead to various complexes.
Depending on the size of the moveable knob, it may or may not be able to fit into the intersections and passageways as it travels around the board.
Some knobs get stuck in the blue zone, representing the school-to-prison pipeline and, for the knobs which can pass to the red zone the prison industrial complex. The red zone represents the low-wage work force or “working class” with the 2nd least mobility. This class is often plagued as modern slaves to corporations, most often, working for less than living wages. The yellow zone represents the military industrial complex and those with the security of government jobs, like police officers for example. While this position contains a level of privilege, it is still vulnerable to demotion to the prison pipeline and working class degradation, however it is not possible to elevate to the level of elitism, represented by the white section.
This commentary on the complex of capitalism illustrates the equality among elites is measured on a different level from the equality of everyone else. Elitist knobs are the only pieces that boast 100% mobility around the board.