—Donna J. Haraway, Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene, 2016

The series Manageable Matter: Maces I-IX is composed of nine glass sculptures representing artichokes in three different stages: closed, in the process of blossoming, and in full bloom. Referencing Simone Weil’s posthumously published La pesanteur et la grâce (1947, translated into English as Gravity and Grace in 1952), Howes explores notions of gravity and grace through the figure of the artichoke. She alludes to the two definitions of the word “mace”: as a ceremonial sceptre and a club-like weapon, which are both symbols of power. The actual structure of the artichoke—a tender heart hidden under several thorny layers—reflects this duality. The fragility and delicacy of these glass artichokes is matched only by their weight and destructive potential. Grace is a strength that should be protected. 

Howes imagined these objects as the interweaving of several stories. A 16th century manuscript describes the Schembart carnival in Nuremberg during which participants whipped themselves with herbal bouquets loaded with fireworks as part of a fertility ritual. There is also Ciro Terranova, “The Artichoke King,” a mobster who controlled the artichoke trade in New York in the 1920s and 1930s. He used explosives to intimidate vegetable producers, from urban markets in New York to farmers in California. Bertold Brecht’s play Der aufhaltsame Aufstieg des Arturo Ui (The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui), written in 1941, was presented for the first time in 1958 in Germany. 

Inspired by New York’s Artichoke King, it is a satirical allegory of the rise of Adolf Hitler set in Chicago’s criminal underworld of the 1930s, where Arturo Ui sows terror in a bid to control the cauliflower market.

—Donna J. Haraway, Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene, 2016

The series Manageable Matter: Maces I-IX is composed of nine glass sculptures representing artichokes in three different stages: closed, in the process of blossoming, and in full bloom. Referencing Simone Weil’s posthumously published La pesanteur et la grâce (1947, translated into English as Gravity and Grace in 1952), Howes explores notions of gravity and grace through the figure of the artichoke. She alludes to the two definitions of the word “mace”: as a ceremonial sceptre and a club-like weapon, which are both symbols of power. The actual structure of the artichoke—a tender heart hidden under several thorny layers—reflects this duality. The fragility and delicacy of these glass artichokes is matched only by their weight and destructive potential. Grace is a strength that should be protected. 

Howes imagined these objects as the interweaving of several stories. A 16th century manuscript describes the Schembart carnival in Nuremberg during which participants whipped themselves with herbal bouquets loaded with fireworks as part of a fertility ritual. There is also Ciro Terranova, “The Artichoke King,” a mobster who controlled the artichoke trade in New York in the 1920s and 1930s. He used explosives to intimidate vegetable producers, from urban markets in New York to farmers in California. Bertold Brecht’s play Der aufhaltsame Aufstieg des Arturo Ui (The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui), written in 1941, was presented for the first time in 1958 in Germany. 

Inspired by New York’s Artichoke King, it is a satirical allegory of the rise of Adolf Hitler set in Chicago’s criminal underworld of the 1930s, where Arturo Ui sows terror in a bid to control the cauliflower market.

—Donna J. Haraway, Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene, 2016

The series Manageable Matter: Maces I-IX is composed of nine glass sculptures representing artichokes in three different stages: closed, in the process of blossoming, and in full bloom. Referencing Simone Weil’s posthumously published La pesanteur et la grâce (1947, translated into English as Gravity and Grace in 1952), Howes explores notions of gravity and grace through the figure of the artichoke. She alludes to the two definitions of the word “mace”: as a ceremonial sceptre and a club-like weapon, which are both symbols of power. The actual structure of the artichoke—a tender heart hidden under several thorny layers—reflects this duality. The fragility and delicacy of these glass artichokes is matched only by their weight and destructive potential. Grace is a strength that should be protected. 

Howes imagined these objects as the interweaving of several stories. A 16th century manuscript describes the Schembart carnival in Nuremberg during which participants whipped themselves with herbal bouquets loaded with fireworks as part of a fertility ritual. There is also Ciro Terranova, “The Artichoke King,” a mobster who controlled the artichoke trade in New York in the 1920s and 1930s. He used explosives to intimidate vegetable producers, from urban markets in New York to farmers in California. Bertold Brecht’s play Der aufhaltsame Aufstieg des Arturo Ui (The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui), written in 1941, was presented for the first time in 1958 in Germany. 

Inspired by New York’s Artichoke King, it is a satirical allegory of the rise of Adolf Hitler set in Chicago’s criminal underworld of the 1930s, where Arturo Ui sows terror in a bid to control the cauliflower market.