Micro-Event n°20 /How to Become a Good Housewife

Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris, 1997 ; Ici, ailleurs, et nulle part, Quartier Ephémère, Montréal, 1998 ; Public, Paris, 1999 ; Qu'est-ce que l'art domestique 4 ?, Galerie Traffic, Ivry-sur-Seine, 2003


I read an article in an English magazine entitled Allen and Overy about how to become a good housewife. It was an ironic and airy criticism of some of John Major’s slogans, “Back to Basics”, “Family Values”, which, according to the authors, were directly inspired by a secondary school educational publication circa 1950. The authors quoted a series of blurbs taken from this book relative to domestic economy and absurd caricatured advice based on a superficial conception of conjugal know-how.I used this article as inspiration. I thus gave three practical lessons, like a professor: “Prepare Your Husband’s Dinner Ahead of Time”, “Prepare Yourself for Him”, “Prepare Your Children” etc. I mimicked the gestures and desired effects of the lesson: “Good Housewife”.