Shutdown (1991) portrays the human cost of plant closures in the wake of free trade agreements in North America. We have been too easily convinced that the jobs are simply the abstract and flexible components of corporate bottom lines. There is little sense that jobs not only provide basic living needs but are the means by which people maintain a social sense of self and community.
The background juxtaposes the empty interior of a recently closed Inglis appliance plant in Toronto with the exploding interior of an empty kitchen. The women is repeated in the background screaming her anger and frustration at the destruction of her livelihood and life.
The work was produced as a billboard in Windsor, Ontario. The skyline of Detroit could be seen in the background.