@hollyr.eth

Framedl 2026-10-12 1/6* In 1969, Mierle Laderman Ukeles declared maintenance itself to be art: scrubbing and sweeping, the endless upkeep nobody applauds. In 1973, she washed a museum's steps on her knees, as the show. Then she joined the NYC Sanitation Department as its unpaid artist-in-residence and shook hands with all 8,500 workers, one by one: 'Thank you for keeping New York City alive.' Her piece for Freshkills Park, the old Staten Island landfill, is due to be completed in 2036. A 62-foot overlook juts out from the mounds, and it's only possible because it sits on a slope where garbage was never dumped. Everywhere else on 2,200 acres is sealed under a cap; here alone, the supports reach bedrock. From the end you look down on wetlands that were never filled, and out across a mountain of refuse being remade as a park. A summit you can stand on because of what didn't happen there. Hint: @frdysk

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