One Minute Sculpture. Trash 2 2017

Editor: Elina Brotherus's "One Minute Sculpture. Trash 2," made in 2017, uses photography to document a site-specific installation. The contrast between the intricate architecture and the mundane act of someone sorting through trash is striking. What do you make of this piece? Curator: The "One Minute Sculpture" series is fascinating because it plays with our understanding of what constitutes a sculpture and who gets to define it. This piece, in particular, makes a strong comment about labor, gender, and the performative aspects of everyday life. We see this lone figure, presumably Brotherus herself, enacting a fleeting, almost absurd action against the backdrop of industrial architecture. Editor: I see that. The architecture almost feels like a stage. Curator: Exactly. It prompts us to consider who is typically seen or unseen in these industrial spaces. Are we meant to see this as a commentary on the often-invisible labor that sustains our built environment, predominantly done by people from marginalized communities and often women? How does her temporary intervention challenge the established order of the place? Editor: I hadn't considered that connection to labor. I was initially just drawn to the geometry and the odd juxtaposition. Curator: And that initial reaction is valid! The formal elements are crucial. But by inserting her body into this architectural context and calling it a sculpture, she challenges us to expand our understanding of art, while simultaneously exposing the gendered and raced dimensions of labor in architectural spaces. What might it mean that this artistic moment, captured by photography, transforms from ephemeral act into a lasting commentary on contemporary social issues? Editor: So, the act itself is a statement, but the photograph is the lasting evidence and call for us to rethink those spaces. Curator: Precisely. Brotherus is inviting us to think critically about our relationship to the built environment and the labor that makes it possible. Editor: That’s given me a lot to think about. I'll never look at construction sites the same way. Curator: That's the power of art – to shift our perspectives and reveal the hidden stories within the ordinary.