Maintenance Art

1. How did you feel performing Maintenance Art in the area around the USU?

I felt pleasant while performing Maintenance Art in the area. It felt good to put in a group effort for that project.

2. 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”?

Mierle Laderman Ukeles cleaning the steps of an art museum and Richard Serra flinging molten lead against the walls of an art museum are different because Mierle was cleaning the steps while Serra didn’t clean a thing. Although, they are both art in their own sense.

3. 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”?

Mierle Laderman Ukeles’ Maintenance Art performance at the Wadsworth Atheneum is “art”. Even if she was a janitor and performed that job for six months, if she believed that it is art, then it is art. The person who creates the piece deems it art or not.

4. 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?

I believe art is subjective to the artist. What one person may deem as art can be deemed as a simple task by another person.

5. 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?

Mierle Laderman Ukeles and Jennifer Lopez haven’t really changed my idea of Women’s Work, reason for this being me participating in all of these activities while growing up. I never really considered it womens work because my mom would make me do it too.

6. 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 get down on my hands and knees to clean Kobe Bryant’s star because I have the utmost respect for him.