-Satellite- mechanical bank c. 1960s

Curator: This mechanical bank, shaped like a rocket, comes to us from Duro Mold and Manufacturing Inc., circa the 1960s. You can currently find it here at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. The piece utilizes found objects and metal. Editor: Woah. So shiny! I get a sense of childlike wonder… mixed with a good dose of mid-century futurism, all wrapped in a rosy, slightly ironic glow. Curator: Its geometric style is heavily influenced by the Pop Art movement. When thinking about Pop Art we have to consider its simultaneous elevation and critique of popular culture. This period of American exuberance also existed alongside anxieties around space exploration during the Cold War, a theme that makes this sculpture all the more relevant. Editor: You nailed it. The coin slot mimics that fear and simultaneous aspiration; that tension gives it soul, a very specific…humanness, even! Curator: The piece prompts so many important questions. What does it mean that it also acts as a bank, and a symbol for saving money? It certainly implicates consumer culture and the ways the promises of modernity are packaged for American consumers. The work has layers, definitely! Editor: Exactly, right? I get the sense of banks, the final frontier, American dreams, shiny and solid… and maybe a little bit… precarious? As dreams often are. The finish makes it feel retro, you know? Like something out of The Jetsons, but slightly more sinister somehow. Curator: The "Home Savings & Loan Assoc" printed on the base also implicates questions of power. Where did the money from all these eager children investing their pennies actually end up? Editor: Oof. Right? Suddenly my shiny retro daydream gets a bit haunted. I think seeing the world, the base, squished underneath that soaring rocket gives me chills, as I guess it was supposed to do, really. Curator: By engaging with it on the levels of personal association, and wider economic questions, this simple artwork can become quite moving. Editor: Yes. I am definitely thinking about our trajectory as a culture now, the weight on our world, and maybe saving all those pennies won’t buy our way off this rock after all. Heavy. And thanks for sharing.