I think often about how care and domestic labor are connected but also different--and often conflated in feminist expression and what to do with that. I don't have an answer for this and am by no means telling anyone to stop making art about or talking about domestic labor, which is important to discuss and without a doubt connected to caregiver burnout. And yet I guess I would like to see more art about care that focused on dynamic and fluid relationships and not maintenance.
Yes, that's interesting, isn't it? Perhaps by linking 'care' with domestic labour (which, in many of the exhibits, seems to be identical with drudgery), it reinforces the idea of care simply as a burden.
I think it does for sure. And of course there is a burden side to care..and the domestic labor is a huge part of it. But at the same time it reinforces the patriarchal diminishment of care as a flat, simple, uni-dimensional experience…
Martin, the Whitworth example sits differently from many of the others in your list. The work was made by midwives who were still inside the practice they were reflecting on. Elissa asked for relationships that move rather than maintenance. Here the relationship was still active after the object was finished. The makers went back to the work.
That's an interesting distinction, Laurentiu. Some of the exhibitions feature artists reflecting on care - though who's to say they are not also caregivers in their private lives? - whereas the Whitworth show, and to some extent the medical students' project, presents care professionals reflecting on their direct personal experience - though it's interesting that both have practitioners working alongside professional artists: the medical students were supported by practising artists, while the Whitworth features 'professional' artists alongside midwives and others. However, even here, the distinction is blurred, since the work of at least one of the featured artists - Caroline Walker - explores her personal experience as a mother. So it's by no means clearcut. Perhaps the lesson to draw from this is that care is universal, and maybe so also is creativity?
You’re right, Martin. Walker undoes the line I drew from who made the work, and your point about artists’ private lives makes that boundary hard to read from the exhibition alone. I made the list cleaner than it is. Thank you for taking it further.
I think often about how care and domestic labor are connected but also different--and often conflated in feminist expression and what to do with that. I don't have an answer for this and am by no means telling anyone to stop making art about or talking about domestic labor, which is important to discuss and without a doubt connected to caregiver burnout. And yet I guess I would like to see more art about care that focused on dynamic and fluid relationships and not maintenance.
Yes, that's interesting, isn't it? Perhaps by linking 'care' with domestic labour (which, in many of the exhibits, seems to be identical with drudgery), it reinforces the idea of care simply as a burden.
I think it does for sure. And of course there is a burden side to care..and the domestic labor is a huge part of it. But at the same time it reinforces the patriarchal diminishment of care as a flat, simple, uni-dimensional experience…
Martin, the Whitworth example sits differently from many of the others in your list. The work was made by midwives who were still inside the practice they were reflecting on. Elissa asked for relationships that move rather than maintenance. Here the relationship was still active after the object was finished. The makers went back to the work.
That's an interesting distinction, Laurentiu. Some of the exhibitions feature artists reflecting on care - though who's to say they are not also caregivers in their private lives? - whereas the Whitworth show, and to some extent the medical students' project, presents care professionals reflecting on their direct personal experience - though it's interesting that both have practitioners working alongside professional artists: the medical students were supported by practising artists, while the Whitworth features 'professional' artists alongside midwives and others. However, even here, the distinction is blurred, since the work of at least one of the featured artists - Caroline Walker - explores her personal experience as a mother. So it's by no means clearcut. Perhaps the lesson to draw from this is that care is universal, and maybe so also is creativity?
You’re right, Martin. Walker undoes the line I drew from who made the work, and your point about artists’ private lives makes that boundary hard to read from the exhibition alone. I made the list cleaner than it is. Thank you for taking it further.
This is also interesting: https://www.tinguely.ch/de/ausstellungen/ausstellungen/2026/labouring-bodies.html
It does indeed! Thank you, Ina. Looks like there are quite a lot of similarities with the themes of the Albertina's 'Care Matters' exhibition.
...and a good reason to visit Basel: we've been meaning to plan an art-based trip there for some time.
https://creativeconfusionblog.wordpress.com/2021/12/17/care-joy-and-burden-dirt-and-dignity/
Thank you for the link, Ina. 'Joy and burden, dirt and dignity' - I love it!