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Wheel of Steel
Wheel of Steel
© Robin Rhode

Wheel of Steel

Artist (South African, born 1976)
Date2006
MediumDigital pigment prints mounted on four-ply museum board
DimensionsOverall: 49 1/2 × 68 inches (125.7 × 172.7 cm)
Each print: 15 1/2 × 22 inches (39.4 × 55.9 cm)
ClassificationsPhotograph
Credit LineMuseum purchase
Object number2007.3.1
Collections
  • PHOTOGRAPHY
  • MODERN & CONTEMPORARY
Edition5 + 2 AP
State3
Label TextIn Wheel of Steel, Robin Rhode places a found record on what appears to be a record player that he has drawn in chalk on the sidewalk. The artist's physical engagement with his drawings transforms them into seemingly three-dimensional objects that evoke the physical process of playing a record: placing the disc on the turntable, swinging the arm over, and dropping the needle into a groove. As he puts the needle on the record and it begins to spin we can imagine the sound implied in the work. Through his do-it-yourself aesthetic, Rhode exhibits a unique ability to create narratives with the most basic and accessible materials. The title of the work, Wheel of Steel, is a slang term for a record player popularized in the early 1980s by hip-hop DJs like Grandmaster Flash.