Artwork Details
- Title
- The Weight of Deferred Gratification
- Artist
- Date
- 2019
- Location
- Dimensions
- overall box, closed: 5 7⁄8 × 12 1⁄8 × 9 1⁄8 in. (14.9 × 30.8 × 23.2 cm)
- Copyright
- © 2022, David Harper Clemons
- Credit Line
- Gift of the James Renwick Alliance in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Renwick Gallery and the 40th anniversary of the Alliance
- Mediums Description
- sterling silver, stainless steel, brass, glass, and mahogany with corn, wild rice, and wheat
- Subjects
- Object — other — flatware
- Object — other — container
- Object Number
- 2022.22A-M
Artwork Description
Metalsmith David Harper Clemons stretches the expected use of utensils with The Weight of Deferred Gratification. While imagining a better future, Clemons looked to the past. He created this functional knife, fork, and spoon to critique unsustainable agricultural production and consumerism. The utensils contain corn, wild rice, and grains, as well as soil pods for planting the grains and water flasks for nourishing the sprouts.
“The tools become vehicles to convey the extended relationship between germination, production, cultivation, preparation, consumption, and even sharing and distribution,” the artist explains. To use the utensils, from seed to table, requires a commitment to nurturing the present; Clemons encourages the user to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.
This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World, 2022
Works by this artist (12 items)
Videos
On Thursday, February 16, 2023, the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) hosted David Harper Clemons, one of the artists featured in This Present Moment: Crafting A Better World. This fascinating behind-the-scenes look into his studio was the final program in the exhibit’s Virtual Studio Tour series. Clemons takes viewers on a tour of his North Carolina studio where he creates art that explores identity and gives meaning to objects that extend beyond their expected uses. Get an up-close view of the tools used regularly by Clemons in his work and hear him answer a variety of questions asked by participants of the live program. Originally from Texas, Clemons taught metalsmithing at The University of Arkansas in Little Rock for eight years, and now lives in Penland, NC. He offers workshops at craft schools around the country. His artwork, The Weight of Deferred Gratification, is part of SAAM’s permanent collection.