Images(7)

Waiting for the Sun Spacewalker

Date2023

Maker Kongo Astronauts

Label TextFrom the Mind of a Kongo Astronaut If you own a cell phone, tablet, laptop, or electric vehicle, you have something in common with this astronaut. Inside these devices is cobalt, a rare, silvery metal that is essential for producing rechargeable batteries. Without cobalt, billions of people could not conduct their daily lives, and yet few people know where it comes from. To fill in this gap of knowledge, a collective called the Kongo Astronauts perform in suits covered with electronic debris sent back to their home after being discarded by Western consumers. One of the Astronauts, Michel Ekeba, states: “Playing the Astronaut is a way to meet Europeans and to ‘mind’ them. In our slang, to ‘mind’ means to demonstrate intelligence, to be charismatic and clever enough to ‘hook’ people, to ‘mark their mind’ so that they take an interest in you.” He also says, “The problem is that modernity doesn’t only bring good.” In fact, for his home country, it has brought a devastating form of modern slavery.

Object number2025.10

Provenancethe artist; [Axis Gallery, West Orange, New Jersey]; purchased by the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 2025

Photo CreditPhoto: Scott Leen

Exhibition HistoryNamur, Belgium, Le Pavillon, KIKK, Stellar Scape, June 22, 2024 – January 26, 2025. Paris, France, MAIF Social Club, Chaosmos: Landing and Taking Root, February 8 - July 26, 2025. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Unruly Suits, December 2025 - ongoing.

Credit LineGeneral Acquisition Fund

DimensionsOverall: 58 1/4 × 25 13/16 × 10 5/8 in. (148 × 65.5 × 27 cm)

MediumFlight suit and boots, electronic circuits, wire, found objects, glue and black spray paint