Murals thanking frontline health care workers have popped up in neighborhoods all over New York during the pandemic. A new art piece, to be unveiled Tuesday across the city, pays homage to other essential workers: the men and women who run the transit system and pick up garbage day in and day out. And it comes from an artist, Mierle Laderman Ukeles, who for decades has honored those who toil anonymously in the service of the city. Ms. Ukeles, 80, the artist-in-residence at the New York Department of Sanitation, is perhaps best known for a 1979-80 performance piece for which she shook hands with all 8,500 employees of the agency, saying to each one, “Thank you for keeping New York City alive!”Her new work, entitled “For ———> forever…,” reprises that exact message, via a 15-second animation of a note being handwritten. The message — “Dear Service Worker, ‘Thank you for keeping NYC alive!’ For —--> forever” — will be played on a loop on a digital billboard in Times Square and on 2,000 message boards in the subways.

Source: New York Times September 08, 2020 12:45 UTC