Pivot Joint, Prosthetic Thumb, c.1947

A single brass pivot joint from a partial hand prosthesis, circa 1947, silkscreened in close-up against a flat field of iron oxide red. The worn bright spot where the hinge has been worked ten thousand times sits at the centre of the frame like a small, exhausted sun. I am interested in the moment a manufactured thing becomes personal — this joint has been adjusted so many times the slot head is almost gone.