Carolyn Schneider and I have just completed the third day of “Art Laundry II”, part of Salem Art Association’s Project Space, 2015. Our proposal was to work in the space daily and build an installation where we examined the threads between “women’s domestic work” and art work. How they might be similar, how they might be different, does sewing relate to drawing, does painting relate to mending, does collage relate to all of it and then…what about ironing? Each day (except Sunday, August 30) until September 4th Carolyn and I will be at 211 Commercial St NE from 2-6.
We started with a big empty space…and are slowly filling it…
(Ross said it reminded him of post-Katrina New Orleans)
Today we got light bulbs…
During the hours 2-4 we will be ironing. Yesterday we did linen blouses, men’s shirts, hankies…today somebody brought in sheets and another brought in pillow cases. Carolyn loves to iron and it has been a fascinating discussion of ironing techniques, householding in general and the things mothers used to do…everybody seems to agree with…”Start with the collar”…
There’s drawing…
Masks are part of it…
and a few family members showed up too…
We have chairs, we have fun, we have art, we having ironing, we have discourse…come on down!
On The Way 
Stopped in only briefly on day one and have been thinking ever since of the messages we got about all the elements of housewifery as we grew up.
There is art in it, but our generation cast so much of that aside.
Perhaps time to re-examine.
i just want to go back & see what’s next. this is free form… a kind of jazz art. from the kitchen. we came on the 2nd day and bonnie announced they just got lights. the first day they huddled up front by the windows. when the lights came on they were overwhelmed with the hugeness of the space. what a kick. it’s a happening, part II. makes me want to blab about ironing a shirt, about the seams and the spaces in between. makes me curious about something “live”, creating itself from what actually happens to happen in the moments.
correction: nic and i visited on day 3, not day 2.