All Photos By Gail

Unemployment (2016), another chapter of Josh Klein’s ongoing cycle, is a stark series of installations set in the 2030s or 2040s – a vision of a near-future in which automation has replaced the majority of administrative office jobs.

The first installation, Contagious Unemployment (2016), comprises, six transparent sculptures in the shape of common viruses: each contains a cardboard box, filled with the kind of personal items that white-collar workers keep at their desks and take with them when they are laid off.

Together, the family photos, mugs, shoes, and other objects within each sculpture serve as a fictional portrait of a middle class professional who has recently lost their job.

Photographed in The Whitney Museum as Part of the Exhibit Josh Klein: Project for a New American Century, on View Through August 13th, 2023.