Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Fall 2025
Abstract
This article offers a reading of two early performance pieces created by the Los Angeles-based African American artist Maren Hassinger—High Noon (1976) and Ten Minutes (1977)—and their relationship to ecological art history. Beginning with a meditation on a peculiar photographic self-portrait found in the artist’s archive, the essay marshals an interview with Hassinger and previously unpublished photographs to support a more complete account of the two works. Bridging new materialist and Black feminist theory, I ultimately argue that these works present models for anti-hierarchal forms of being human in the world. Hassinger’s contribution resonates with our current moment of climate crisis, supporting the inclusion of more diverse artists in our understanding of US ecological art.
Published In
Nguyen, Melanie Woody. "Meeting the World at High Noon: Maren Hassinger’s Object Performances." Archives of American Art Journal 64, no. 2 (2025): 46-67. https://doi.org/10.1086/739068.
Publication Title
Archives of American Art Journal
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1086/739068
Comments
Originally published in the Archives of American Art Journal.