Untitled (Meat Pyramid)

This ​“meat” sculpture is one in a series of Technological Reliquaries that Paul Thek made in the mid-1960s. In the series the artist placed lifelike wax models of flesh in hard-edged clear cases. The glass structure, which keeps the viewer outside and imprisons the wax-flesh inside, echoes the way that machines have made personal contact less common in our fast-paced modern world. Thek hoped that the ​“raw flesh” would provoke people into ​“seeing more than they do.” This work calls attention to the fragility of human life and reminds us of our need for spirituality and love.