Art in Odd Places application for Meaning Cleaning

For the upcoming Art In Odd Places slated for October 2008, Hayley Severns and Angela Rose Voulgarelis Illgen propose a collaborative cleaning performance (“Meaning Cleaning”) in the Meatpacking District on 14th street.

Dressed in professional business attire, we would begin sweeping the sidewalks together from one end of the district to the other. Supplied with simple push brooms and a large portable garbage can, our aim would be to push the debris from the street in one continuous pile until it reaches the desired end location, and then cart the debris away. We would not block the sidewalk or street, but rather subtly re-direct foot traffic with our performance as we swept.

As we activate the space, we welcome interaction with the public. We play with some of the expected roles and unsaid rules that come along with the sectioning off of "high brow" and "low brow" sections of public spaces. And, speaking frankly, it is unusual for two white women dressed in suits to be sweeping the streets of New York City.

The performance can exist on one day, or can be repeated over the course of the month. The Meatpacking district is not a strict perimeter; however, we are interested in performing in that area because it has transformed from an actual meat packing district into one of the more expensive neighborhoods in New York. Regardless of how many times Meaning Cleaning is performed, the professional “uniform” will remain the same.

Meaning Cleaning not only brings “women’s work” back into the public sphere, but also plays with notions of acceptable public behavior and social “norms”. In addition, our work maintains the lineage of Feminist and Conceptual artists before us, primarily Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Marina Abronovic, Joseph Beuys, and countless others.

Our performances take responsibility for our shared urban environment, which is why we feel strongly that Meaning Cleaning is pertinent to submit to A.I.O.P. In addition, in light of the upcoming closing of Florent, we feel Meaning Cleaning is especially relevant for this year’s cycle.

To bring to light what we as a community discard is to bring to light the human condition. Our actions provide a fundamentally different approach to the perceived lack of care for the immediate environment; our focus as artists is on the foundation beneath our feet, to be reminded of our interconnection. As independent artists, we began working together in 2005, and have since cleaned public spaces together in Europe and the US.



Our collaborative cleaning performance would be graciously removing the refuse and at the same time taking responsibility for our community. Without breaking any local laws, and dressed in a way that plays with social codes and acceptable public behavior, our performance also hopes to bring some much needed conscientious irony and humor to the streets of New York.

It would be a pleasure to bring our performance to A.I.O.P "Pedestrian" this October 2008.