The artwork “Roadworks,” created by Mona Hatoum in the year 1985, is a notable piece within the Performance Art movement. Categorized under the performance genre, this work is emblematic of Hatoum’s distinctive artistic approach.
The artwork features a close-up view of a person’s lower legs as they walk barefoot on a tiled pavement, with black leather boots tied to their ankles by strings. The barefooted individual appears to be wearing rolled-up pants, and the juxtaposition of bare feet against the industrial boots invokes a sense of struggle and constraint. The monochromatic palette accentuates the starkness of the composition, highlighting the tension between the human body and the inanimate object. The boots, dragging along the ground, symbolize a hindrance or burden, adding layers of meaning to the performance.
