Cleaning the Art – performances (Copenhagen, Södertälje)

For the exhibition The Scream – Nordic Fine Arts in the Arken Art Museum in Copenhagen, 1996, Andersson continued the cleaning process with his alter ego Saint Scrubbingbrush. He asked the other participating artists to leave the cargabe, which was left over from the installation of their works, on the floor. Then he made small works on the floor with his cleaning brush. The pictures show his works made for Mariko Mori, Tim Hawkinson, Jens Brinch and Henrik Plenge Jacobsen. He also cleaned the museum spaces during the exhibition and you can see him sweep the floor under Pipilotti Rist’s work. He also made water colors on the floor. (Photos: Juha Metso)

Andersson has also “cleaned the art” by cleaning the windows of the art museums to get more light into the spaces. For the performance in Södertälje Art Hall he used the enormous roof windows, which were very dirty. Dressed in the Saint Scrubbingbrush cleaning knight outfit, Andersson climbed outside on the roof and scrubbed the windows clean so more light could get in. At the same time he symbolically “cleaned the art”, which was on display in the Art hall. The audience, which was inside the Art Hall could see how the shape of Saint Scrubbingbrush gradually got sharper and cleaner!