The Maid
In The Maid, Carissa Rodriguez explores questions of authorship, capitalism, and the often-invisible lifespan of artworks. The work is titled after Robert Walser’s 1913 short story that chronicles a hired maid who’s lost track of a child for whom she’s responsible and desperately searches for over a decade. Rodriguez’s video focuses on Newborns, a series of sculptures made by artist Sherrie Levine in the 1990s, based on earlier works by Constantin Brancusi. Rodriguez follows the sculptures over the course of a day in New York and Los Angeles, from their settings in museums, auction houses, and private homes. The work’s meditative tone lulls the viewer into a journey across these disparate yet connected locations, implicating us as witnesses surreptitiously observing the sculptures in places that often lack a human presence.
Notably, it contrasts the varied ways we opt to live and interact with artworks: delicately handling art with gloves in a museum, or alternatively, situated informally amid family heirlooms. Ultimately Rodriguez reminds us that art—even examples of seemingly identical works— inherits deeply varied meanings through its contexts and treatments, often beyond artistic intention.
Notably, it contrasts the varied ways we opt to live and interact with artworks: delicately handling art with gloves in a museum, or alternatively, situated informally amid family heirlooms. Ultimately Rodriguez reminds us that art—even examples of seemingly identical works— inherits deeply varied meanings through its contexts and treatments, often beyond artistic intention.
Artwork Details
- Title: The Maid
- Artist: Carissa Rodriguez (American, born New York 1970)
- Date: 2018
- Medium: Single-channel digital video, color, sound, 12 min., 22 sec.
- Edition: 3/6 + 2 AP
- Dimensions: Variable
- Classification: Variable Media
- Credit Line: Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 2024
- Object Number: 2024.453
- Rights and Reproduction: © Carissa Rodriguez
- Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art
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