100 Boots By The Bivouac ("The Pillbox", California)
Artist
Eleanor Antin
(American, b. 1935)
DateSeptember 8, 1971 8:30 P.M.
Mediumoffset lithograph postcard
DimensionsImage: 4 1/2 x 7 in. (11.4 x 17.8 cm)
Support: 4 1/2 × 7 in. (11.4 × 17.8 cm)
Support: 4 1/2 × 7 in. (11.4 × 17.8 cm)
ClassificationsPhotograph
Credit LineGift of Lucy R. Lippard, 1999
Object number1999.15.352.18ab
DescriptionPostcard depict 100 boots at various sites.eMuseum Notes
Born in New York City in 1935, the artist moved to San Diego,
California for a teaching position in the late 1960s. The edge of the Pacific
Ocean is where Antin’s 100
Boots Marching began their trek across the United
States, visiting various locations from the sea, countryside, towns, and
cities. Fiftyone postcards sent to thousands of lucky recipients served as the
narration of the boots’ march to New York and a visit to the Museum of Modern
Art. Antin’s 100
Boots is an example
of mail art, a Fluxus strategy for making and distributing artworks. Fluxus
sought to liberate art from its conventions by denouncing the exclusiveness of
high art. By utilizing common materials they strove to create art that engaged
with everyday life. The creation of multiples and the use of methods of mass
reproduction provided the artists with an alternative means of exhibition and
distribution. While not considered a member of Fluxus, in the 1960s, Antin was
creating conceptual artwork influenced by the Fluxus movement.
Storytelling and narrative structures are a key component of Antin’s practice as an artist.
On View
Not on view
Suite/Sheet
