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Lot Essay
100 Boots is Eleanor Antin's best-known conceptual work that bypassed the traditional gallery and employed the United States postal service. For this piece, Antin placed and had photographed one-hundred boots in various spots in Southern California and turned these photographs (created by Philip Steinmetz) into postcards which were then mailed to approximately one thousand artists, writers, dancers, critics, libraries and art institutions. From May 30th through July 8th in 1973 the work was exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York for a solo exhibition consisting of all 100 boots and fifty-one postcards.
Full of discerning social commentary, 100 Boots evokes the America of the Vietnam era. The boots begin engaging in everyday suburban activities and eventually trespass on private property, symbolically announcing their solidarity with Americans participating in the anti-war movement. Unable to avoid the draft, 100 Boots go to war. By the time these heroes arrive in New York, they have become cultural icons and representatives of the new American experience.
Full of discerning social commentary, 100 Boots evokes the America of the Vietnam era. The boots begin engaging in everyday suburban activities and eventually trespass on private property, symbolically announcing their solidarity with Americans participating in the anti-war movement. Unable to avoid the draft, 100 Boots go to war. By the time these heroes arrive in New York, they have become cultural icons and representatives of the new American experience.