RECAP // Coffee Date with Stephen Bram

Last Saturday, we settled into the Mattress Factory Café to start off a new season of Coffee Dates and chat with Australian artist Stephen Bram, one of the exhibiting artists in the recently opened Factory Installed show. Stephen’s piece, "Third floor West gallery 500 Sampsonia Way," is an architectural installation that uses shifted perspective to create a three dimensional space of smooth white walls and exposed timber.

We started the morning with an insightful discussion about the similarities and differences between Pittsburgh and Stephen’s hometown of Melbourne. As usual, conversation was accompanied by piping-hot coffee from Commonplace Coffeehouse, teas from Arnold’s Tea, and fresh donuts from Priory Bakery. After we had our fill, we headed up into the gallery to see Stephen’s piece and to talk about it in the gallery space. Because the piece had just opened the night before, most members were seeing this room-sized structure for the first time.

Stephen answered numerous questions about the construction and design of his piece. One of his favorite aspects of "Third floor West gallery 500 Sampsonia Way" is the way that the structure interacts with each of the permanent installations that surround it. Whether the pieces deal with perspective, like James Turrell and Sarah Oppenheimer's works, or an autobiographical concept, as with Greer Lankton's work, he appreciates that almost everything on the third floor can connect in some way.

Members, be sure to RSVP for the next Coffee Date this Saturday, October 8^th, with Mohammed Musallam. We hope to see you there!

RECAP // Coffee Date with Kevin Clancy

On August 20th, members filled the Mattress Factory Café for coffee and conversation at the last Coffee Date of the series with 2016 Factory Installed artist Kevin Clancy. Kevin’s piece, IRIS_SIRI, is on display in our gallery at 1414 Monterey Street.

We started out the morning with hot coffee from Commonplace Coffee just around the corner, teas from Arnold’s Tea, and delicious specialty breads from Breadworks Bakery. After a quick introduction, the group headed down to 1414 Monterey to view IRIS_SIRI. After gaining some insight into how he pays homage to other MF Artists like James Turrell and Yayoi Kusama, we asked a couple more questions and then made our way back to the café to continue the discussion. 

Conversation changed quickly from chatting about the cat Kevin lives with (his roommate’s grey tabby) and questions about his background, to how technology and social media are changing how we interact with other people and affecting important global events. We were lucky enough to have a broad range of ages participating in this event, so we heard and assortment of stories and experiences about social media, texting, and time.

Members, look out for a postcard in the mail for the next series of Coffee Dates, starting Saturday, September 17th with Mohammed Musallam. We hope to see you there, and make sure to RSVP! 

RECAP // Coffee Date with Lauren Kalman

Last Saturday, Mattress Factory members met in the Mattress Factory Café to chat with exhibiting artist Lauren Kalman over coffee, bread and tea. Lauren’s piece, Strangers to the Garden, is one of four installations in the Factory Installed show currently exhibited in the 1414 Monterey Street satellite gallery.

Once members made their way out of the rain and into the café, everyone had their fill of breads from BreadWorks Bakery and caffeinated with coffee from Commonplace Coffeehouse and tea from Arnold’s Tea. Lauren gave an overview of her piece and the idea behind her current series But if the Crime is Beautiful… which led to a lively discussion about how she sees jewelry and adornment in general, and how that influences her work. After learning about the process behind creating the 30,000+ gold foil kudzu leaves in her work, which utilized 3D printing during its pressing, we talked about technology and its growing role in even traditional forms of art, such as metalwork and jewelry making.

The highlight of the event was our trip over to 1414 Monterey to see Strangers to the Garden with Lauren. For many of the members, it was their first time seeing the piece. Being able to talk with the artist while taking in her piece in was a great experience for everyone and provided perspective for our discussion in the café.

Members, don't forget to RSVP to join us for the next Coffee Date with Kevin Clancy on Saturday, August 20. We hope to see you there! 

On View This Summer

Spend your summer at the Mattress Factory! There's plenty to see in our galleries, and we don't want you to miss out...so here's a short guide of what's currently on view here at MF.

The Mattress Factory is home to a growing permanent collection of installation art — from the ever-popular Repetitive Vision (Yayoi Kusama) to the recently unveiled Acupuncture (Hans Peter Kuhn) sitting atop our roof. But don't forget to look for the more subtle installations hidden in the museum, like William Anastasi's minimalist wall drawings and Rolf Julius' music-playing terra cotta flowerpots.

Families and children in Yayoi Kusama's Repetitive Vision

Stop by to take a last look at Factory Installed at 500 Sampsonia Way, featuring the works of Lisa Sigal, Bill Smith and Rob Voerman, before it closes in early August.

Bill Smith, spherodendron, 2015

The works of David Bowen, Kevin Clancy, Lauren Kalman and Wendy Judge are also currently on view! The artists have completely transformed the galleries at 1414 Monterey Street with their own distinctive approach to the creative process. A few highlights: sliced mountains, space debris, cats, a money machine and gold leaves.

Kevin Clancy, IRIS_SIRI, 2016

As always, feel free to take pictures as you visit our galleries — and use #MattressFactory to share your photos with us!

Why not learn about the exhibitions as you visit? Drop in the museum for an interactive tour of our current exhibitions — it's FREE with museum admission! These tours are a treat, so please do stop by when you get the chance!

We are busier than ever this summer! If you're interested in learning more about what we do here or want to help out, we encourage you to volunteer. We're always looking for a helping hand, and we would love to get to know our dedicated viewers and patrons personally. Feel free to drop come to the Volunteer Open House + Orientation for a talk + tour of MF.

Keep an eye out for more installation openings and events that may be coming soon! We want you to get the most out of your visits here. See you soon!

RECAP // Coffee Date with David Bowen

On Saturday, May 21, members joined artist David Bowen for a cozy discussion in the Mattress Factory café. David’s work SPACEJUNK premiered only the day before at the 2016 Factory Installed exhibition, allowing members to be among the very first to learn about the process behind the creation of SPACEJUNK!

David uses robotics, sensors and custom-built software to explore the intersections between natural and mechanical systems. He kicked off the discussion by sharing some of his previous works, including Tele-Present Water, an installation that replicated the movement and intensity of water based on data from a buoy adrift in the Pacific Ocean.

This idea of communicating a remote experience using data is also echoed in David’s work at the Mattress Factory. He explained that there are over 500,000 pieces of human-made space debris circling the earth! These can range from spent rocket bodies, satellites, to tools from previous space missions. David talked about his fascination with the subject, how “so much energy was put into launching these things, and yet now they are in this state of slow decay.”

David designed a program to scrape data from a website that tracks the orbiting human-made debris. Then he built 50 machines to point twigs in unison towards the oldest piece currently above the horizon. What results is a mesmerizing (and sometimes startling!) display that is constantly changing as debris appear and disappear beyond the horizon.

Up close to the works, members got to ask David all sorts of questions about the process of putting together the installation and the different components of the piece. “I love learning about such completely unexpected things like this and seeing the overlap with art and technology," one member shared.

Join us for our next Coffee Date with Lauren Kalman on Saturday, July 30, 2016 at 10:30am.