Mattress Factory | Art You Can Get Into: CAITLIN

Showing posts with label CAITLIN. Show all posts

Thursday, August 20, 2015

RECAP // Coffee Date with Marnie Weber

This past Saturday, MF Members joined Factory Installed artist Marnie Weber for a special behind-the-scenes Coffee Date. Marnie is in the process of creating her installation "Night Train" in the Lower Level of the museum's main building at 500 Sampsonia Way. Her installation will be part of the museum's upcoming exhibition, Factory Installed, featuring four artists from around the globe. The Factory Installed Opening Reception will be held Friday, September 18 from 6-8pm.

Marnie gave a brief overview of her practice and her experience working with galleries located in Los Angeles, New York, Paris, London and Athens, Greece. Marnie is building a train in the Lower Level and explained her fascination with trains began at a very early age when she lived for a year in Taiwan next to a steam engine. "Night Train" will be accompanied by many effigies or spirit totems, as Marnie likes to call them. These spirit totems are created by manipulating found objects such as masks and wigs, and sculpting them to give a monster-like appearance. "I like to work with monsters because no females tend to work with monsters. It's more of a man's thing," Marnie explained.

After the introduction, Marnie toured the group through her partially installed work, explaining that it will look completely different in a few weeks when the exhibition opens. Marnie is also a musician and is composing a soundtrack that will be played on a loop in the installation. "The lighting will also be totally different," Marnie made sure to tell everyone. "It will be more theatrical!"

Marnie Weber's "Night Train" opens as part of Factory Installed on September 18 and will be open through Spring 2016.

For more information about upcoming Coffee Dates or to become a member, visit our website at www.mattress.org.

Monday, May 4, 2015

RECAP // Coffee Date with Julie Schenkelberg

This past Saturday, MF Members attended a special behind-the-scenes Coffee Date with upcoming artist in residence, Julie Schenkelberg.

A Brooklyn-based Cleveland native, Julie has been living at the Mattress Factory for the last four weeks in the artist residence around the corner from the museum. During the last month, Julie has been working on her installation on the second floor of the Mattress Factory's 1414 Monterey Street gallery. MF Members had the exclusive opportunity to meet Julie and see her work in progress.

Julie Schenkelberg shows MF Members around her work in progress

Julie's materials: Stacks of china filled the neighboring gallery

Julie was very warm and open as MF Members began to flutter into her partially-completed installation. With a warning to watch where you step, Members immediately began asking questions.

After a walk-through of Julie's installation, she led the group into the next room which she called her "storage space."

MF Members enjoy a cup of coffee

The Coffee Date concluded with coffee, donuts and discussion. We learned that Julie uses domestic objects from the home, evoking "a dignity about the living space," as Julie put it. Laura Zurowski, a MF Member, commented on how her work, however messy, really does feel like a home. It reminded her of abandoned houses and all the things that might be left behind. Julie explained that all her materials were from Pittsburgh. She found them at Construction Junction, thrift stores, and donations from MF staff and others. [If you would like to contribute items from your own home for use in Julie's installation at the Mattress Factory, please see this post!]

Join us Friday, May 15, 2015 6-8PM for the opening of Julie Schenkelberg's installation, as part of our Factory Installed exhibition also featuring Jacob Douenias & Ethan Frier, Anne Lindberg and John Morris. $15 or FREE for MF Members.

Friday, April 3, 2015

RECAP // Factory 500: Federal Courthouse + Jones Day

The MF's Factory 500 membership group got a special look at the historic Federal Courthouse located downtown on Grant Street. Courtroom deputy clerk Michael Palus lead the group on a detailed tour throughout the building. Factory 500 members got to experience the beautifully restored historic courtrooms with their plush carpets, high ceilings and beautiful murals dating back to 1936. Unfortunately, no photographs [or cell phones] were permitted in the building for security reasons.

Following the courthouse tour, members made their way down the street to Jones Day, an international law firm, for an artist talk and reception. Upon arrival, Jones Day Partner-in-Charge Laura Ellsworth gave a brief introduction to their corporate collection highlighting some of her favorite pieces. Pittsburgh artist Ron Donoughe was present to give an overview of his work in the collection, and to discuss a new project he's been working on for the last year.

Thank you to everyone who came to the Federal Courthouse and Jones Day. To check out more photos from this Factory 500 event, and past events, please visit our Flickr page.

Factory 500 is the Mattress Factory's premiere membership program, chaired by Susan Lammie. The group tours private collections, artist studios, local businesses, and other interesting arts destinations in Pittsburgh several times throughout the year. Don't miss out -- join today!

Stay tuned for information about our next Factory 500 event this spring!
Caitlin
Membership Coordinator

Thursday, March 26, 2015

RECAP // Coffee Dates with Kathleen Montgomery

This past Saturday, March 21st, marked the second installment of the Mattress Factory's new member program Coffee Dates with special guest Kathleen Montgomery. MF Members of all ages gathered around the tables in the MF Café to sit and chat with her.

Kathleen Montgomery is one of the artists in the Mattress Factory's current exhibition Artists in Residence. Her exhibition, "Body Memory Architecture" is located at the museum's satellite gallery 1414 Monterey Street. Kathy's exhibition closes March 29th. She is a long-time friend of the Mattress Factory that first exhibited at the MF in 1989 with a solo show "Toward the Dark," and again in a Gestures show in 2003. More information about these exhibitions can be found in the Active Archive on our website.

After everyone got settled with their coffee and tea, the conversation was quick to begin with an opening comment by Kathleen regarding how she begins her artistic process. "It's all made by hand. My hands are where I start," she said. Members were eager to jump in, drawing their own connections to the human form and body. One member made the comment that the exhibition felt "meditative and spiritual." Another referred to it as "beautifully wild." Another member said she was speechless.

The next Coffee Date will be with artist John Peña on Saturday, April 18, 2015 at 10:30am in the MF Café. RSVP to caitlin@mattress.org.

Monday, February 16, 2015

RECAP // Coffee Dates with Benjamin Sota

Saturday, February 14th marked the first edition of Coffee Dates, with special guest Benjamin Sota. MF Members made their way through the snow to the museum to enjoy a warm cup of coffee with Ben.

Benjamin Sota is an artist presenting work in the Mattress Factory's current exhibition Artists in Residence, on view through Spring 2015. He is the Founder and Artistic Director of Zany Umbrella Circus; an Assistant Professor of physical theater, movement and circus at Coastal Carolina University; and has taught and performed in places such as Jordan, Ethiopia, Afghanistan and the White House.

After introductions, Benjamin began the Coffee Date with a story about the history of circus. He talked about his many experiences traveling the globe and the idea of "social circus." Members got to hear his side of his experience working at the Mattress Factory. Explaining that his work on the fourth floor, Damn Everything But the Circus (2014), is his first installation, he says, "I've never felt so uncomfortable as an artist. As a performer all my life, I have always been the artwork. But here, I am not the artwork. My installation is."

Join us for our next Coffee Date with Kathleen Montgomery, Saturday, March 21, 2015 at 10:30am in the MF Café. RSVP to caitlin@mattress.org.

Thursday, February 5, 2015

RECAP // Factory 500: Preservation Technologies

The Factory 500 member group visited Preservation Technologies in Cranberry on Saturday, January 24th for a behind-the-scenes tour of the facilities.

Preservation Technologies provides custom preservation, deacidification solutions, and digitization products and services for print and audiovisual materials for libraries, archives and businesses worldwide.

Vice President Bob Strauss gave the members an overview of the work Preservation Technologies does in the "Bookkeeper" and the "MediaPreserve" sections. Bob, and two of his co-workers, Diane and Hannah, divided the group and toured them around to each section of the building.

The evening concluded at Off the Hook restaurant down the road in Warrendale, where Factory 500 members enjoyed wine and a delicious selection of fish entrees.

Thank you to everyone who came to Preservation Technologies on January 24th. You can see more photos from this event, and past Factory 500 events, on our Flickr page.

Factory 500 is the Mattress Factory's premiere membership program, chaired by Susan Lammie. The group tours private collections, artist studios, local businesses, and other interesting arts destinations in Pittsburgh several times throughout the year. Don't miss out -- join today!

See you at our next event!

Caitlin

Membership Coordinator

Friday, February 28, 2014

Screenings: An Installation of Spontaneous Film Sketches

Today (Friday, February 28, 2014) is the opening of the Mattress Factory's second edition of Screenings, an installation of spontaneous film sketches inspired by the Mattress Factory's Gestures series. This exhibition will run for 12 weeks, allotting three weeks per artist. Each artist is presented with the opportunity to create a new video work specifically for exhibition on the Mattress Factory's large projector screen in the first floor lobby of the museum. I had the chance to speak with Owen Smith, the Exhibitions Manager and organizer behind the Screenings series, to get some insight into the makings of the series.

Caitlin Harpster: What is the Screenings Series exactly? Could you provide some background information for how the series first came to be?

Owen Smith: Our first go at this series was last year around this same time (March 1 - May 23, 2013). It began as this idea to be able to better utilize the large projector screen we have in the lobby of the museum. I took inspiration from our Gestures series (which dates back to 2001) and thought it would be interesting to ask artists who may not typically work in this type of medium, to experiment and create a "film sketch" to screen in our lobby.

CH: This is your second Screenings Series. What made you want to do this again?

OS: We received very good feedback from the first series and I started thinking about the next. We have this great big projector screen and it's a great platform for artists to be able to experiment and take risks and create something that they normally would not create. It is also a fairly quick exhibition. It is only 12 weeks long, so it's sort of nice to have programming that rotates more quickly. The viewer can come back the very next week and be surprised to see something completely different than the week before.

CH: There were more artists in the last series. Was there a reason why you limited the number of artists from six to four?

OS: Last time there were six artists and the screenings ran for 12 weeks. That left only two weeks for each artist's work to be on view. Two weeks seemed too short. I wanted to expand the screening time of each film without expanding the exhibition time. Three weeks seems like a better balance.

CH: What about the artists?

OS: The artists I choose last year were from all different backgrounds in the arts such as documentary film, live interactive media, photography, etc. Three out of the four artists I choose this year specialize in some sort of film, whether it be experimental documentary like George Cessna, performative video like Di-ay Battad, or computer animation like Nate Lorenzo. I choose Delanie Jenkins specifically because her practice does not involve film or video. She is a sculptor. I am very interested to see what a physical sculptor will do in this situation.

CH: George Cessna is opening the series tomorrow. Can you tell us anything about what to expect?

OS: George's video is called I'm Not A Very Good Cowboy. It is a short quasi-documentary in the sense that it is about himself as a real subject, but it is also a performance by him. It is a silent video with subtitles, about four minutes long. He is struggling with this country-western persona that he has created for himself. I think a lot of people will relate to his search for a genuine connection to a thing he loves.

George Cessna, I'm Not A Very Good Cowboy, 2014, 4 minutes, silent video with subtitles

For more information on last year's Screenings, you can check out our posts HERE.

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Best of 2013 Mattress Factory Instagrams!

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE MATTRESS FACTORY!

In honor of the new year, the Mattress Factory has been perusing its Instagram tags (to bolster our ego, of course) and decided to showcase the best #mattressfactory Instagrams from 2013. So from the MF to you, avid Instagrammers, THANK YOU for posting such beautiful pictures of our museum and the amazing installations we have the privilege of exhibiting. Enjoy!

THE MUSEUM: