MAKING A MUSEUM: Materializing Regimes of Value with the NYC Department of Sanitation

I thought that I'd just take a moment to comment on last Wednesday's seminar and our guest speaker, Mierle Laderman Ukeles. First of all, I found her to be extremely delightful to listen to as she explained her role within the DSNY as their artist-in-residence for 30 years and the work that she had done/has done for them. Like the Gablik article suggested ("Deconstructing Aesthetics"), her work is very different from the typical "dominator model" of modern art which is impersonal, egocentric, and authoritative (recall the Richard Serra example). Mierle's work on the other hand is more closely related to the "partnership model," or art that is connective to others and is based on relationships. This notion can clearly be seen in one of her project's titled, "Touch Sanitation," which moved and impressed me because it was such a huge task that required a certain amount of dedication and determination to complete. To go around the entire DSNY, sending TelEx letters saying she would stop by to meet every San Man and shake their hand is just simply incredible to me. Her effort produced such an effect on these men because someone was showing that they cared about them and appreciated them for their service to the city. However, my favorite project that Mierle did was "Cleansing the Bad Names" at the Robert Feldman Gallery. I would have loved to have seen people of all different backgrounds and positions grab a sponge and a bucket of water and just scrub away all the bad names sanitation workers get called. What a sight that must have been, to see the community working together to bring this issue into light. And I believe that the other Gablik article ("Making Art as if the World Mattered") was right too, that even though modern art may sometimes show the cruelness of today's society and at times does not seem to offer any solutions to help certain situations, it essentially can be powerful. The artist can be a positive force and art may even be able to save a life. I'm sure the San Men who experienced Mierle's project's first hand would agree that her work has done this and it just goes to show that we need more artists like her around, people who make a difference and touch the lives of others.