LakeShore Cleaner
Oak Street Beach
Chicago, IL
April 22, 2024
Lake Shore Cleaner
Video clip (color and sound) 30 seconds
Lizzie Strongson
Image credit: Erica Mott
LakeShore Cleaner is a live performance set on Chicago's Oak Street Beach. On Earth Day I walked to the shoreline carrying cleaning tools and wearing a housekeeper’s uniform. Beginning with purification rites at the water’s edge, I washed my hands and face and offered a libation of Malört liquor to Lake Michigan. To highlight the sanctity of seemingly mundane tasks, I silently swept, mopped, and re-sanded a small section of the public beach. A meditation on physical labors and rituals of care that sustain our shared environment.
