Last week UK-based artist Sam Worthington, also known as Wasp Elder, completed his latest mural, titled “Automation and the Proletariat” for the Beyond Walls festival in Lynn, Massachusetts. The artist describes this large-scale work as a “reimagined story of Lynn’s industrial revolution in the shoe industry.”
About The Mural
Completed in three separate portions, the left section of the mural features one of Lynn’s most influential former residents, the inventor Jan Earnest Matziegler. The woman shown in the mural’s right-hand section represents “the female workforce who made up large numbers in the factories and who were pivotal during rallies and strikes.” Above, the third section frames Worthington’s work with his signature designs, reminiscent of brightly happy watercolor work.
In paying his respects to these significant forces in Lynn’s history, Wasp Elder addresses the questions that automation continues to pose for our future. The author explains, “the invention of automation in factories was a way of controlling workers who often used their skilled labour to control their bosses and gain raises in wages through striking.”
Wasp Elder continues on to discuss how this loss of leverage effects us today through the work of Paul Mason, who “talks about automation being the next industrial revolution [and how, in order to] benefit from it we need a universal basic income as well as a redefinition of ourselves without work.” Mason posits that “a low work society is only a dystopia if the social system is geared to distribution rewards via work.”
A Brief History On Lynn’s Industrial Revolution
Lynn played a crucial role in asserting workers’ rights during the first iteration of Industrial Revolution that America underwent in the late nineteenth century. According to the New England Historical Society, The great shoemaker’s strike of 1860 began in Lynn with 3,000 shoemakers “who deliberately chose George Washington’s birthday to start their righteous rebellion.”
Automation’s rapidly-growing reach, paired with what we fondly refer to today as “corporate greed” found hard-working shoe artisans struggling to survive on shoestring salaries: $3 a week for men, and $1 a week for women. Shortly after its initial big bang, the strike expanded to twenty five neighboring shoe towns as 20,000 shoe workers walked off the job. Another 20,000 supporters marched in parades, came to rallies and jeered the out-of-town police.
The strike ended on April 10th when 30 employers finally conceded a 10% raise to their workers. The strike’s memory survives as a vivid member of America’s collective efforts towards worker’s right throughout the Industrial Revolution.
With its role as leader of New England’s shoe manufacturing industry secured, Lynn would continue to lead the region twenty five years later thanks to the work of Jan Earnest Matziegler. Reporting completed by WGBH explains that the inventor was “born in Africa to a Dutch engineer father and a Surinamese slave mother.” Matziegler arrived in America with a limited knowledge of English, but a bountiful knowhow for shoemaking.
About Jan Earnest Matziegler
After “five painstaking years” spent not only attempting to mechanize the lasting process, but also learning English as a necessary component to his endeavors, Matziegler achieved success. He secured the patent for his new machine in 1883, and unveiled it on May 29th, 1885. The creation allowed shoemakers to increase their production “from 50 pairs a day to 750 pairs a day.” The benefits of this newfound efficiency were passed on to consumers, who enjoyed an approximately 50% price decrease. This advancement officially cemented Lynn as the “shoemaking capitol of the world.”
Like the workers, Matziegler was a member of America’s proletariat himself. His journey required him to overcome a litany of obstacles, not limited to a language barrier, racial prejudice at a time only shortly after the abolitionist movement, and his unfortunate habit of neglecting to take care of himself while absorbed in his tinkering.
About Wasp Elder’s Work
“Automation and the Proletariat” preaches the stories of the disenfranchised, through its nods to both Matziegler’s humble beginnings and the struggles of the working class. Its message directly aligns with the motif’s of Wasp Elder’s work, which his website describes as focused on “[presenting] often marginalized figures through a dignified representation,” and “highlighting their humility outside of the conflict that is seen to define them.” The piece’s composition also stays true to Wasp Elder’s signature style, as it is “populated by enigmatic figures and unstressed backgrounds, enticing a sentiment of obscure journey.”
Wasp Elder’s most recent work also meshes with Beyond Wall’s mission as listed on their website to “activate space to strengthen communities.” “Automation and the Proletariat” reminds the citizens of Lynn of their storied heritage, rich in leading technological advancements, industry, and noble struggle. The mural reminds our society at large of the challenges that lie ahead, and the values we ought to emulate in addressing them.
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