This work [replace with the title] will explore maintenance labor and the futility of certain types of work. This project entails shoveling snow during and after snowfall, without express permission from the people who live in the buildings I am clearing out. It would take place during the winter season, from December 21st to March 20th.

The Manifesto for Maintenance Art written by Mierle Laderman Ukeles in 1969 is defined like this :
"Keep the dust off the pure individual creation;
preserve the new; sustain the change; protect
progress; defend and prolong the advance;
renew the excitement; repeat the flight."
Maintenance is the labor of keeping things functioning. The unseen, unappreciated, and never ending work of keeping things clean, safe and useable.

The stairs on the left were freshly shoveled, and on the right was the accumulation while i shoveled the left side.

This project was originally going to be about unsnowing cars in the morning. It is an integral part of every car-owning Canadian's morning routine, and, even though it is physical labor, it is not compensated or considered. The morning commute cannot begin until the car is uncovered (at the risk of your life and someone else's).

Living in Montreal now, and considering not everyone has to drive to work, I had to change gears. I decided to do stairs (and entryways). Since snow-covered stairs are dangerous themselves, I felt my intention could still be understood. Shoveling the stairs to your apartment is time consuming and very physical, but must be done nonetheless.

With this in mind, I went out to shovel. The two flights of stairs and one entryway took me around 30 minutes to clean off. I think that shoveling a street block every snowfall would be enough to consider this project full time work.

That being said, this project must be done full time. Since no one can control the snowfall, I have to be free to shovel when it snows and cannot have a job outside of shoveling. Due to this constraint, I must be compensated with a living wage. According to Numbeo, the cost of living in Montreal is 1,114.40C$ a month without including rent. Currently my rent is around 800C$, and must be adjusted for when I will do this project. I would require 2000C$ a month for the 3 months of winter to successfully live and complete this performance piece.

"What happens if you get injured?" you may be asking yourself. Well, for the project itself I think it is part of the work. People frequently get injured while shoveling and I almost expect it for myself since I will be shoveling hundreds of times within 3 months. If I injure myself in a way that stops the project entirely, I don't think that stops the project from its original intention. If I receive a grant to work on this piece full time, I will be able to live while I am injured. I don't think insurance is required, since Canada has healthcare, but I would look into it before starting and include it in the price of the project.