“Maintenance Artist” is a featured documentary at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, taking place from June 4 to June 15. Directed by Toby Perl Freilich, the documentary examines Mierle Laderman Ukeles — the first resident artist at the New York City Department of Sanitation.
Spanning over decades, the documentary captures Ukeles and her relentless desire to create maintenance art, which she defines as the art of doing mundane, everyday and undervalued tasks. Whether this was caring for her children or the work of cleaners, janitors and sanitation workers, Ukeles created a unique and new perspective on the idea of art.
From a feminist perspective, the film addresses Ukeles’ balancing of motherhood and being an artist, which was largely unheard of at the time. The documentary touches on the unfair burden placed on artistic individuals who are mothers, and the societal pressure for them to be one or the other. Her work displayed her family, intertwining art, motherhood and feminism.
The bulk of “Maintenance Artist” focuses on Ukeles’s work with the New York City Department of Sanitation. In the 1970s — when sanitation workers were being poorly treated — Ukeles ventured to each department, shaking hands with every sanitation worker in New York City, which turned into her exhibition titled “Touch Sanitation (1979-80).”
Something that seems so simple, like shaking hands with a sanitation worker, proved to be revolutionary for New York in the 1970s. Through her work, the public became increasingly aware of the effects of harmful rhetoric surrounding the New York City Department of Sanitation. Ukeles and her art humanized these workers and eventually created positive dialogue about sanitation workers.
Supporting the exhibition, Ukeles followed with a series of art installations that highlighted the stories of sanitation workers and the essential work they did — and still do — for New York City. Viewers are guided through a journey, experiencing some of her most notable art pieces such as “Manifesto for Maintenance Art 1969!” and “The Social Mirror.”
In an interview with The Torch, Director Toby Perl Freilich discussed her perspective on the impact Ukeles made through her art.
“She [Mierle] was an artist, but using the toolkit of the artist, she was able to do something that was healing,” Freilich said.
Ukeles did not just use sanitation workers for the purpose of art; she listened and actively fought the harmful stereotypes thrown upon them.
“I was really moved that she cared about a segment of society that the rest of us take for granted. Who are we to demean the people who take away our trash?” Freilich said.
At its core, “Maintenance Artist” is an exploration of art and artists. Through Ukele’s works, the definition of art is blurred and becomes a multidimensional instrument to examine human nature.
From showcasing motherhood to sanitation workers, Ukeles transformed what art could be and who it could highlight.
“Maintenance Artist” is available for audiences to view until June 14 at the Tribeca Film Festival.
