Manifesto For Maintenance Art 1969! 1969

Mierle Laderman Ukeles created "Manifesto For Maintenance Art 1969!" using typescript on paper. The four pages, neatly arranged, present a striking contrast between the mundane and the monumental, an aesthetic and a challenge. Ukeles boldly elevates the repetitive tasks of daily life, or ‘maintenance,’ traditionally relegated to the domestic sphere, to the realm of high art. The manifesto's structure is critical. Ukeles employs the rigid format of the manifesto, a form usually reserved for radical political or artistic statements, to champion her cause. Each page systematically outlines her vision, using numbered points and assertive language. This echoes the authoritative tone of avant-garde manifestos, while undermining its typical focus on grand gestures. The typescript, with its unadorned, functional typography, emphasizes the everyday. The pages are like documents. Ukeles blurs the boundaries between art and life, challenging conventional notions of creativity and labor. In doing so, she invites us to reconsider our assumptions about value, gender, and the very nature of art itself.