RECAP // Mini-Factory: PLACE!

In a recent Mini-Factory program we discussed the idea of PLACE … what is a place? … who fills this place? … what objects are in this place?  Sometimes looking at objects can give us clues about a place, telling us more about who lives there and what the place is used for. We can also take a walk in our neighborhood and look up, look down, look all around … a neighborhood is a PLACE too.  And that is exactly what we did in Mini-Factory as we walked to 516 Sampsonia Way to look at Chiharu Shiota's installation Trace of Memory. Shiota is an artist who entered an empty building and allowed her imagination to lead, weaving together the memories of lives and events which may have once existed in this PLACE.  Objects such as suitcases, books, chairs and a bed give us clues and guide our imaginations to create a story for this PLACE, the woven yarn visually connects these rooms and objects.  And that is what is so very unique about the Mattress Factory, it is a museum where art is created for a specific PLACE, perhaps a room, an elevator, building, or a wall.

  

After visiting Trace of Memory, Mini-Factory wrapped up with a good book and a PLACE making activity.  Every young artist was given a different color ball of yarn and allowed to weave, twist and thread it through our mobile pop-up space in the lobby.  We created a PLACE at the Mattress Factory!  The young artists chose objects to add to their space, connected by the yarn, creating their own story of a PLACE.  

Mini-Factory is a FREE interactive learning program for children ages 3 - 5 years old and their parents or caregivers.  Using contemporary installation art, parents and children will explore new ideas and concepts from the everyday world. Check out upcoming Mini-Factory dates and themes here. E-mail education@mattress.org for more information or to register for an upcoming program.