Second Binding 1964

Mierle Laderman Ukeles, made Second Binding with all sorts of odds and ends – fabric, foil, paint, the stuff of daily life. It’s so cool when artists dive into process like this, right? The materiality of it all is pretty striking. There's fabric twisted and knotted, shiny foil peeking through. Look at that gloppy red right there next to the foil. Is that paint or something else? It's not flat; it's built up, got a real presence. You can almost feel the artist wrestling with the materials, bending them to her will. It makes you wonder what she was thinking, what she was trying to hold together. Ukeles is known for her performance art. I wonder if she has been influenced by Eva Hesse, who was doing this kind of weird stuff in the 60’s and 70’s. Art's just one big conversation, everyone riffing off each other, trying to make sense of the world in their own messy way.