ART WORK
New Demands? Performance
Performed in conjunction with 2nd Floor Rear Festival of Art in Alternative Spaces
This walking performance along Milwaukee avenue in Chicago explored the value of artistic labor, its relationship to timed labor more generally, and the precarious position of most artists. It responded to attacks on workers’ rights more generally, and to attempts to limit unions within the art world at the time. For example, Sotheby’s locked out its unionized professional art handlers, and Frieze Art Fair in New York refused to employ unionize workers. The performance also pays tribute to historical instances of artists organizing for better working conditions: the American Artists' Congress, The Artists' Union, Art Workers Coalition, Black Emergency Cultural Coalition, and Women, Art, Revolution.
Photo: Kenny Smilovitch