-Maintenance Art-

This last Wednesday I participated in our classes’ “maintenance day”. We were asked to meet at the Piotr Kowalski’s NOW sculpture by the USU. Where we cleaned the sculpture with wet rags and picked up trash all around it.

1. While doing this activity it made me feel happy knowing all the people in my class actually cared enough (about their grade and) to come and clean this very old sculpture.
2. Mierle Laderman Ukeles cleaning the steps of an art museum and Richard Serra flinging molten lead against the walls of an art museum are very different because one is cleaning the marks from the ground while the other is adding to the wall. However these to acts are similar in a way too. They are both considered artistic statements and have meaning behind them. Additionally when discussing if they are both art I would argue yes and no because I am very conflicted. Yes they are artistic statements but I believe art as expressing one’s self through a medium not an action.
3. As I mentioned before my classification of art is expressing one’s self through a medium like paint, clay, graphite or even photography etc. So in my opinion Mierle Laderman Ukeles cleaning the steps is not art even if she was a janitor.
4. In my opinion yes and no. I understand artistic statements but I still strongly believe you need something to show for your artistic actions. Also all canvas paintings are considered art in my eyes and painting houses is only considered art when there is a meaning behind it.
5. When discussing the topic “women’s work” and whether it’s still art of course I am going to respond with it is but I do lay that boundary somewhere. For instance J-LO’s music video is of course art because she wrote her own song and produced a music video along side it but Mierle Laderman Ukeles cleaning the steps is an artistic statement but not art in my eyes.
6. If I were ever to clean a star on Hollywood Blvd I would choose Walt Disney. The company he created really inspired my love of art and gave me a dream that art can actually become a career unlike what my family has told me saying “its a waste of money!” or “How are you gonna pay your bills?!”