PERFORMANCE

Performance                                                                                     1976

The artist claimed the NW corner firehose, Great Hall Balcony, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York by affixing a guerilla label next to it identifying it as her piece.

Armed with a replacement, she checked her label whenever visiting the museum. Invariably it would be removed. One day two years later she discovered that someone had carefully placed it inside the glass case. Emboldened, she produced a postcard edition imitating a Museum card, and quietly placed a stack in the Museum postcard rack amongst the 20th Century artists. She purchased two; the museum charged 28 cents apiece. After awhile they realized that it was not an official card, but they continued to sell nearly 1,000 cards, supplied from time to time by the artist. The Saks Fifth Avenue designer purchased a card, blowing it up to 4 feet, producing various color editions for a store-wide display.

 

 


                               

1978, Guerrilla Postcard, Edition of 1,000, offset print, 4 x 6 inches

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1992, Metropolitan Museum Postcard Edition of 10,000, Offset print, 4 x 6 inches

                          

 

                            Updated label, 2006                                                                                                                                                                                                   Acquired by The Metropolitan Museum, 2007                                                                                                                                                       Gift of Rosalind Jacobs in honor of Melvin Jacobs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                       2004 Performance by Dove Bradshaw, Edition of 10- Click on image to view the book
 

In 1980 the Metropolitan Museum acquired the silver gelatin print. Twelve years later they published the official version of the post card, with this text (image on R):

Dove Bradshaw American, b. 1949                                               THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART                           

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Klein, 1980   1980.1095                                                                     

In 1976, the conceptual artist Dove Bradshaw "claimed" a fire hose in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by posting a label next to it that identified it as her work. Next, she had the fire hose photographed, produced postcards of her piece, and quietly placed them in the Museum's store. They sold briskly. This postcard reproduces the photograph, Fire Extinguisher now in the museum's collection.          

Printed in the U.S.A.                                                                                                                                 01-07482-2 © 1992 MMA

       
 
   
2007 The Metropolitan Museum of Art acquires Performance, the encased fire hose itself, as a work of art in their permanent collection.
 
     
 

Performance Burned                                                                                           Photogravure, Edition of 36, 2011 published by Sam Jedig, Stalke Galleri, printed by Niels Borch Jensen, Copenhagen   

      
   

Performance Burned                               Postcard Edition of 25, 2010