1979, New York City. At their work site, sanitation workers give their undivided attention to a woman who’s stopped by for a visit. They listen to her speak, but stand with their arms folded. “Good morning! My name is Mierle Laderman Ukeles. I’m a maintenance artist. I feel that you hold up the whole city in your hands with your unending work. I think it’s time for the public to hear what New York City feels like, from the side of the people that keep it alive, every single day.” With that, Ukeles initiated one of her most ambitious and socially-conscious works — pursuing the idea that acts of individual social maintenance, including sanitation work, could be deemed a form of performance art.

Toby Perl Freilich’s engrossing documentary employs a playful visual style to explore Ukeles’ life and career as a truly atypical, radical artist. The ‘ecofeminist’ Ukeles, influenced by the socially-progressive Dadaists and Futurists, has imbued in her work the need to reconceptualize how we engage with consumption, waste and land. Her decades-spanning work at the NYC Department of Sanitation — and other public projects abroad — has furthered the evolution of performance art in sync with political and environmental issues. Anchored by expansive archival material, Maintenance Artist crafts the dynamic portrait of an irrepressible and subversive artistic force in culture and society.—Jose Rodriguez

Toby Perl Freilich