The Floor Scrapers, 2006-2007 / 2012, reclaimed studio floorboards, red oak, gold paint. 56” x 60” x 84”.
Part 2/6 of The Realist Manifesto series.
The Floor Scrapers, 2006-2007 / 2012, was inspired by Gustave Caillebotte’s The Floor Scrapers (1875), a painting of urban proletarian life in which three workmen plane floorboards at the artist’s home. I removed two sections of wood floor from my South Boston studio/apartment, nailed them together, and framed them. The 102 x 146 cm panels correspond to the dimensions of Caillebotte’s painting and serve as the recto and verso of a two-sided sculpture. One side retains its well-used and heavily scuffed layers of bright blue floor paint. I scraped the other side clean; now cracks and discolorations in the floorboards are visible (this side of the sculpture echoes the lower left corner of Caillebotte’s painting where a swath of floor has been gouged clean). The floorboards are displayed at 60” centered.
Exhibited at:
"Hi Jack!", Jack Shainman Gallery, 513 West 20th Street, New York, NY (August 2 - September 1, 2012)
The Floorscraper, 2006, digital snapshot of a private performance, 8 x 10, South Boston, MA.
