How did you feel performing Maintenance Art in the area around the USU?
I will be honest and say it felt pretty awkward since there were other people wondering what the class was doing cleaning a sculpture. After a while though the whole class was cleaning so it felt more like a collective group project. The sculpture looked a lot better and shinier once the class was done cleaning.
How are Mierle Laderman Ukeles cleaning the steps of an art museum and Richard Serra flinging molten lead against the walls of an art museum different? How are they the same? Are one or both “art”? Are one or both “not art”?
One difference between the art forms are in the way they are presented. In society, “women’s’ work” is considered to be more delicate and is labeled as “light work” while men’s’ work is based more on work that requires “strength.” Following these stereotypes, the art by both Ukeles and Serra can represent the differenced between “delicate work” and “hard work.” In Ukeles work, the cleaning of steps is what follows the delicate “women’s’ work” society believes in, while flinging molten lead is considered more dangerous; therefore, labeled as “men’s’ work.”
I believe they are the same because they both represent art within physical labor. Both cleaning (washing the steps) and metal casting work (an example for molten lead) require physical labor no matter what stereotype society puts on them.
I would consider both of them art because of the emotion and meaning behind their creation and presentations. Since the artist put effort into displaying his/her piece of work, it is important to acknowledge both pieces as a work of art.
Was Mierle Laderman Ukeles’ Maintenance Art performance at the Wadsworth Atheneum “art”? Did the fact that her performance was at an Art Museum make it art? What if instead, she had simply gotten hired as a janitor at a factory somewhere and performed that job for 6 months? Would that have been art? What makes an act “art” or “not art”?
Ukeles’ performance is art because she presented her display as art. Her performance was a statement and a display of emotions. Simply putting on a display at an art museum does not make it art, the location of a piece is not what defines the art. What defines the art is the emotional, and/or symbolical meaning put into a piece through the individual effort of the artist/artists. If Ukeles would have been hired as a janitor, it would not have been considered art unless she had displayed her job as a work of art. Again, I believe that art is defined by the emotions and connection put into a piece, which is why everyday common labor is not considered art, until the individual puts their own emotions and attachment into it; because, if every common thing was immediately labeled as art with no special emotion or connection from the artists, then art as a whole would be meaningless.
Is an object or an action Art or Not Art because of some intrinsic property of the medium? Or because of the intention of the person performing it? Are all paintings on canvas art because paintings on canvas are exhibited in art museums? Is all house painting not art because we don’t exhibit painted houses in art museums? Can a painting on canvas ever be not art? Can painting a house ever be art?
Art is not defined by where it is placed, art is still art whether it is displayed at an art museum or placed on a wall at home. I believe art is defined by the intention of the artist displaying or performing it. If we relied on the setting to define what is and what isn’t art, street art or individual art portfolios would be disregarded as not “real art” simply because they did not follow the stereotypical standard that art is exclusively paint on a canvas. Not all paintings or prints on canvas have to be art; however, canvas are the most widely known way to display art, which can be the most logical reason to why people most of the time do not use canvas for reasons other than art.
I believe painting a house is not a form of art unless the painter/artist displays it as a work of art. He/She can say that they put a lot of effort and emotion into painting the house a certain way and therefore that makes it art. Again, just because certain art forms are not displayed in art museums does not make it “not art.”
Prints/Paintings on canvas can be “not art” depending on the intentions of the person creating it. For example, for a concert I want to make a slogan banner on canvas paper; however, whatever I decide to paint or print on it, I will probably not consider art because my intentions were to give it another purpose. The same can be said about painting a house, as long as the person painting it has the intention to display the painted house as art, then it is those intentions that make it art.
Has Mierle Laderman Ukeles, or Jennifer Lopez, made you think differently about “Women’s Work”? Is “Women’s Work” ever art? If yes, when? If no, why not?
In a way my views did not change because I already believed that art can be found anywhere where an artist puts forth something as his/her own art. (Especially after that display with the banana taped to the wall) art depends on intentions or emotions put into a piece. Which is why some people consider their own jobs as a work of art because of all the effort and emotions they put into it. Likewise, “women’s work” can be art if the intentions of the artist is there.
In class we discussed the woman who cleaned Donald Trump’s Star on Hollywood Blvd. Whose Star would you get down on your hands and knees to clean?
I would clean a star that belongs so someone that I respect and admire. An artist that inspires me is the group BTS, and if I had to choose a star to clean it would be theirs. Unfortunately, they do not have a star yet.
Brianna 