Ivanka Vacuuming

Ivanka Vacuuming was a piece of livestreamed performance art by American artist Jennifer Rubell which showed an Ivanka Trump look-alike vacuuming crumbs off a carpet. The piece appeared at the Flashpoint Gallery in Washington D.C. beginning on February 1, 2019, and ran through February 17. It was sponsored by CulturalDC.[1] The piece was interactive, as "visitors ... are invited to throw crumbs at an Ivanka lookalike performer who's cordoned off in a separate, pink carpeted area, as she repeatedly vacuums—in heels, no less—every night for two live-streamed hours".[2]

Ivanka Vacuuming
ArtistJennifer Rubell
Year2019
TypePerformance art
LocationFlashpoint Gallery, Washington D.C., U.S.

Description

An Ivanka Trump impersonator, donned in "a pink dress with bows and stiletto shoes", vacuumed up crumbs thrown by onlookers onto the pink carpet.[3] The actress stayed within the three-walled room, continually vacuuming in two-hour stints. The walls of the room were also pink. Rubell stated the piece was "inspired by a figure whose public persona incorporates an almost comically wide range of feminine identities: daughter, wife, mother, sister, model, working woman, blonde".[4][5]

Reception and response

Ivanka Trump tweeted, "Women can choose to knock each other down or build each other up. I choose the latter."[6] In an interview with ABC, Ivanka stated, "Well, I think it's a very sexist representation of a woman, but what bothered me about this image is they hired a 16-year-old girl to stand there and have crumbs thrown at her for two hours a day for a couple of months, and I have a real problem with that. And that's what infuriated me more than anything."[3] USA Today characterized Ivanka's response as an "icy reaction".[7] In response, Rubell invited Ivanka to see the piece first hand.[8]

Donald Trump, Jr. tweeted, "Sad, but not surprising to watch self professed [sic] 'feminists' launching sexist attacks against @IvankaTrump. In their crazed world, sexism is OK if hurts their political enemies."[6]

Eric Trump stated, "These leftists called up a modeling agency, saying, 'You know what, I want to get a nice woman to come stand on a carpet, with a vacuum of all things, so that our people can throw food and crumbs to mimic a powerful woman who has done more for women than probably anyone in Washington, D.C. Think about that hypocrisy. They label themselves the quote, unquote party of women, yet they're throwing food, they're throwing garbage at a woman on a carpet holding a vacuum cleaner to mimic someone who really does care and who has fought so hard for women."[9][10][11]

W Magazine stated, "Needless to say, reactions have been mixed" while RT stated the piece had sparked a debate.[2][12]

The Federalist called the piece "catty and sexist"[3] while The National stated, "Politics aside, the vacuuming Ivanka Trump is a distasteful, sexist parody".[13]

Molly Jong-Fast of The Forward stated, "That Ivanka Trump art exhibit is more real than she is".[14]

Hyperallergic stated, "It's hard to say what is most disorienting about the interactive performance piece... the schadenfreude it instigates, the somewhat anachronistic feminist button-mashing, or the ridiculous notion that Ivanka Trump has ever used a vacuum cleaner in her entire life".[15]

Art critic Paddy Johnson was critical of the piece, writing in a column for CNN, "Art doesn't need to serve up fixed meaning, but in combination with other more trite aspects of the work, the piece falls apart. The obvious symbolism that the color pink and a vacuum equals women, for example, prompts derision, not intellectual curiosity."[16]

The Atlantic stated "while Ivanka Vacuuming appears to be making a case about complicity by incorporating the viewer, the message is muddled".[17]

See also

References
  1. Fieldstadt, Elisha (February 5, 2019). "Ivanka Trump responds to D.C. art exhibit 'Ivanka Vacuuming'". NBC. Archived from the original on February 14, 2019. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  2. Eckardt, Stephanie (February 9, 2019). "Is Ivanka Trump Vacuuming Performance Art? Does It Matter?". W Magazine. Archived from the original on February 9, 2019. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  3. Harkness, Kelsey (February 9, 2019). "Ivanka Trump Responds To 'Ivanka Vacuuming' In The Classiest Way Possible". The Federalist. Archived from the original on February 9, 2019. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  4. Mahdawi, Arwa (February 6, 2019). "Ivanka Vacuuming gets to the heart of how the Trumps really clean up". The Guardian. Archived from the original on February 9, 2019. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  5. "IVANKA VACUUMING BY JENNIFER RUBELL". CulturalDC. Archived from the original on February 10, 2019. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  6. "Crumbing controversy: 'Ivanka Trump' lookalike vacuums crumbs at art gallery". The Economic Times. February 8, 2019. Archived from the original on February 12, 2019. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  7. Cummings, William (February 5, 2019). "Ivanka Trump has icy reaction to news of 'Ivanka Vacuuming' art exhibit". USA Today. Archived from the original on February 7, 2019. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  8. Caralle, Katelyn (February 8, 2019). "Ivanka Trump slams 'sexist' exhibit of her vacuuming up crumbs thrown by onlookers". Washington Examiner. Archived from the original on February 12, 2019. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  9. Sure, Eric (February 5, 2019). "WATCH: Eric Trump Says That Ivanka Trump 'Has Done More for Women Than Probably Anyone in Washington, D.C.'". Second Nexus. Archived from the original on February 12, 2019. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  10. Bowden, John (February 5, 2019). "Eric Trump: Ivanka 'has done more for women than probably anybody in Washington DC'". The Hill. Archived from the original on February 12, 2019. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  11. Amatulli, Jenna (February 5, 2019). "Ivanka Trump Responds To Art Installation Of Look-Alike Vacuuming Public's Crumbs". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on February 9, 2019. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  12. "'Trump derangement syndrome' or 'ambiguous art'? Ivanka vacuuming exhibit sparks DEBATE". RT. February 6, 2019. Archived from the original on February 9, 2019. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  13. Day, Emma (February 10, 2019). "Politics aside, the vacuuming Ivanka Trump is a distasteful, sexist parody". The National. Archived from the original on February 10, 2019. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  14. Jong-Fast, Molly (February 7, 2019). "That Ivanka Trump Art Exhibit Is More Real Than She Is". The Forward. Archived from the original on February 12, 2019. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  15. Sharp, Sara Rose (February 6, 2019). "The Neoliberal Hypocrisies of Ivanka Trump Vacuuming". Hyperallergic. Archived from the original on February 12, 2019. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  16. Johnson, Paddy (February 10, 2019). "'Ivanka Trump' vacuuming crumbs is not brilliant art". CNN. Archived from the original on February 10, 2019. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  17. Capps, Kriston (February 11, 2019). "The Artwork That Traps Ivanka Trump in an Endless Cleanup Task". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on February 11, 2019. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
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