In 2018, while pregnant, I posed as a model for Ethan Murrow’s wall drawing installation “Hauling” at the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, NH. His work was a massive drawing that explored the industrial history of Manchester, NH and ideas of labor, handcraft, and collaboration. I served as one in a group of figures working together to, “push, pull, and haul large accumulations of objects symbolic of human labor.”1 In his piece, Murrow used “imagery of rope, which (he) views as one of the most elemental hand tools, and also connects to more symbolic and universal ideas of connectivity, timelines, migration, and, of course, hauling.”

My performance was part of a live program discussing the exhibition that was, a “Sisyphus-inspired meditation on the invisibility of labor and the transience of art,”2 it took part on March 10, 2019 before the drawing was removed.

In the performance, “Pushing a Rope,” I pushed a large “battle rope,” a weighted rope used for workouts, while reciting a list of tasks that I collected from women. This performance centered on the idea of the futility of pushing a rope but was also inspired by the imagery in Ethan Murrow’s drawing.

Prior to the performance, I contacted female friends and asked, “I need your input. I want to know more about invisible or emotional labor in your life. This doesn’t have to be related to children. I think this can happen in any type of relationship and in many aspects of life. Is there something that you spend time on that is important but invisible?”

Ranging from “clip the dog’s toenails” to “manage the 401K,” the list of tasks varied and showed the pressures, stresses, and events managed by the female participants.

In the piece, I pushed the rope, while reciting the submitted tasks and running back and forth before finally sitting on the floor, out of breath, to conclude the performance after eight minutes and twenty seconds. This gesture highlights invisible labor and emotional labor or “life admin” that is often performed by women.

1 Ethan Murrow, “Hauling,” Currier Museum of Art, https://currier.org/ethan-murrow-hauling/, accessed January, 2, 2020.

2 Events. “Hauling and the Art of Futility,” Currier Museum of Art, http://currier.org/event/hauling-and-the-art-of-futility-a-conversation-and-performance/, accessed January 2, 2020.