2

In Moral Boundaries: a Political Argument for an Ethic of Care, Joan Tronto explicitly excludes art from the field of care because, in her view, the purpose of artistic activity is not to maintain, perpetuate or repair the common world. However, such a view is challenged by the work of the American feminist artist Mierle Laderman Ukeles. Long before the emergence of care theories, in the late 1960s, she imagined performances that placed care activities at the center of the public space. She examines how care activities are intertwined and made invisible, as well as the social subordination of those who perform them. Affirming that art can take over dirty work, her contribution to the ethics and politics of care now seems major in that she proposes new practical articulations between art, care and politics.