Wk 1/Idea #1 – “Women’s Work” is also art

“Women’s work” to me should feel equal to men’s work. During class, we discussed how women work is considered to feel more emotional based work, such as being the one who raises children, teachers, nurses, etc, while men’s work is more “physically” demanding. Women’s work to me is anything done by a female-identifying person. Work can be actual work or art.

“Art” is a way of expression. This includes things like drawing/painting on canvas’, or music.

“Women’s work is also Art” means that women’s work should not be excluded from the conversation. Throughout history, plenty of stories get left untold or are forgotten to be mentioned in plenty of history books. Women’s work is typically perceived as being “less than” compared to work done by a man.

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MAINTENANCE ART ACTIVITY

1. At first, I felt a bit intimidated by the activity since it forced my classmates and I to be out in the open and perform mainatnace on thesculuputere. We were out in the open where anybody passing by could see us doing so. As I expected, people that were not part of the class but where rather walking by would pull their phones out and record us. For me, it wasn’t the task that was intimidating, it was just the fact that were out in public that made me feel so intimidated since it forced me to step out of comfort zone, but shortly after, my mood changed. After going around and collecting trash around the sculpture, I felt good doing so. I strongly dislike how people litter and always complain about it to myself so it felt good that I was dedicating myself to this area and help clean it up with my peers.
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 different because Laderman is ultimately cleaning the museum, here being the steps, and Richard Serra’s act can be seen more as creating something rather than cleaning it. They are both the same in the sense that these people had a goal in mind and wanted to possibly create something new in their eyes: Laderman by cleaning the steps to create a cleaner look to the museums steps and Serra doing the opposite of Laderman by wanting to create a new piece by splattering molten lead against a museums walls. For me, Richard Serra created “art” because he envisioned a piece, leading him to doing this act.
3. I would personally not consider Mierle Laderman Ukeles’ Maintenance Art performance at the Wadsworth Atheneum to be “art”. I believe that since Laderman’ Maintenance Art performance was done in-front of an art museum, it helped give the performance a sense of artistic value, but not enough for me to classify it as art. As stated in the question, when janitors clean, their work is not praised nor held as having some sort of artistic value, it’s simply seen as their job and something janitors are supposed to do. This is not devalue acts similar to this however, both by artist or workers that dedicate themselves to cleaning areas or organizing different places. For example, workers who dedicate themselves to redoing and cleaning peoples closets at home for me is considered art because they put plenty of thinking and is very detailed work that not everyone is capable of doing. What makes “art” art is something that is planned out, even if its just a basic canvas getting paint thrown at it, because the person completing the piece can have a deeper meaning to it.
4. I believe that a piece being “art” or “not art” is not based on the materials used but rather what the piece or act can mean. If a painting is done on a canvas, it usually does mean it’s art because something is being created on that canvas by a person who has a message they wish to express to others or just be able to physically see their vision rather than just imagining it. Home painting are just as valuable as art pieces hung on museums, they are both being displayed to people, regardless of the amount of people that are viewing them. I believe that people use canvases to create something, whether it be an elaborate piece or a couple of lines, it holds value if its being done on things like a canvas. Painting a house is art because your canvas are literally walls of blankness that can be used to create different patterns, shades of colors, or drawn over.
5. Mierle Laderman Ukeles and Jennifer Lopez just helped to add to my believe that “Women’s Work” is art. When a women creates an art piece, it should not be categorized differently simply because of a gender.
6. I would get down on my hands and knees to clean Selena Quintanilla’s Star on Hollywood Blvd. Selena has been a huge part of my culture and identity since birth. My parents adored her and her music, causing Selena to be present all over my childhood. Selena also means an immense amount to the Latinx community.