Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Service Aesthetics


Service Aesthetics: At first I thought this assignment was hard to carry out-- after all, how can I, as a college student living in 2011, even attempt to mimic some of the seminal "service aesthetics" pieces of the 60's and 70's? I'm not Barbara Smith or Marina Abramovic!

Then I realized my job at the campus mail room could definitely be seen as service, or as a type of performance. Every day at work, I am the messenger, the go-between. I fetch all kinds of packages for people, from the very small (college rings) to the ginormous (couches, stereo systems) to the quirky (coconuts, packages that moo). I meet people I wouldn't normally meet, and we share a quick laugh. It's a small job, but I believe it's important, and besides, it gets me energized-- makes me feel like I'm doing something productive. Sometimes that's a nice change of pace from art school!

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