Abstract

Women artists are in the forefront of a major paradigm shift taking place in contemporary art as more and more artists are critically addressing the role of art and moving toward socially engaged, community based, collective, utilitarian art practices. This article explores what draws so many women artists to this kind of artistic practice, what role women in particular have to play in it, and how this change in the role of art could potentially bring about a change in our value systems, particularly the valuation of certain types of labor such as maintenance work and work that has been categorized as women’s work. The art projects focus on two separate but related issues: the nature of contemporary human migration and environmental remediation. The status and identity of those who live outside their place of origin is addressed by artists Tania Bruguera and the organization Immigrant Movement International (IMI) and by Robin Kahn and La Cooperativa Unidad Nacional de Mujeres Saharauis (The United Cooperative of Saharawi Women). Maintenance work and environmental remediation is the focus of work being done by Mierle Laderman Ukeles and the maintenance workers of New York City, and by Kristin Jones and the environmental project Tevereterno or Eternal Tiber.

摘要

随着越来越多的艺术家批判性地解决艺术的作用，并转向社会参与、基于社区、集体、功利主义的艺术实践，女性艺术家处于当代艺术发生的重大范式转变的最前沿。本文探讨了是什么吸引了如此多的女性艺术家从事这种艺术实践，尤其是女性必须在其中扮演什么角色，以及艺术角色的这种变化如何潜在地改变我们的价值体系，尤其是估值某些类型的劳动，例如维护工作和被归类为女性工作的工作。艺术项目关注两​​个独立但相关的问题：当代人类迁徙的本质和环境修复。La Cooperativa Unidad Nacional de Mujeres Saharauis（撒哈拉妇女联合合作社）。维护工作和环境修复是 Mierle Laderman Ukeles 和纽约市维护工人以及 Kristin Jones 和环境项目Tevereterno或 Eternal Tiber正在完成的工作重点。