RECAP // Coffee Date with Lisa Sigal

"Being commissioned here has been one of the best experiences I've had." - Lisa Sigal

Factory Installed artist Lisa Sigal began her Saturday morning Coffee Date sharing her experience at the Mattress Factory's artist-in-residence program. As an artist who has shown works at the Whitney Museum of American Art, MoMA P.S.1, The International Biennial in New Orleans, and participated in artist residencies across the nation, Lisa was able to reflect on the aspects of the Mattress Factory that set it apart.

"Usually at art institutions, they say 'Here are the parameters, the limitations, the budget," Lisa explained. "But here, when I asked 'What are the limitations?,' the answer was 'we don't usually tell you - we start with the vision and we work from there.'"

With a smile, Lisa continued, "Nothing was out of the question." In such an environment, she felt she could experiment more freely, without having to articulate each step of the process or be too afraid of making mistakes.

The conversation soon shifted towards the inspirations and concepts that Lisa explored in her work "Break it Down." She explained that she wanted to "flip the terms" and make the typically unseen (walls, sheet rock, and other architectural barriers) seen. The artist described her piece as a more "minimal" and "elegant" exploration of formal elements compared to her previous works. However, it still grew out of her interests in the architecture and structures underlying social spaces.

In particular, Lisa highlighted "Burning," a public art installation she created at Propect.3 New Orleans. She was interested in the blighted houses as structures underlying the social inequalities of the New Orleans neighborhood, but also wanted to create a work sensitive to the local community. The final piece involved displaying text fragments from the play "Burning" by Suzan-Lori Parks on the exteriors of vacant homes, allowing passersby to read the unfolding story as they walk by.

This was the last edition of this year's Coffee Date series! Thank you to everyone who attended and made these discussions such warm and friendly meetings. This Member-Exclusive series will continue next year with our next artists-in-residence. We hope to see you all again soon!

For more information or to become a member and attend the Coffee Dates series, please visit www.mattress.org.

RECAP // Member Appreciation Week!

We know that members are a vital and vibrant part of the Mattress Factory, which is why from November 3 - 8, the museum held its first ever Member Appreciation Week! The special week-long celebration of our members featured daily events and special deals.

We kicked off the week with special members-only discounts for membership purchases, in the MF Shop, and the MF Café!

On Tuesday, members of all ages explored their creative side during Household Membership Day. Artistic creations included buttons, magnets, and colorful collages.

Members exploring James Turrell's Danaë

Next up was the Hump Day Members Mixer, where members and friends got to explore the museum after-hours through a Scavenger Hunt and exclusive tour of the latest exhibition Factory Installed, led by museum Co-Director Michael Olijnyk.

Not to mention a smorgasbord of goodies, including pretzels from The Pretzel Shop and beer courtesy of Penn Brewery!

Members enjoying snacks and drinks @ 500 Sampsonia

On Thursday was the next installment of MF's popular Art + Conversation series, with Factory Installed artist Bill Smith. Members, in addition to their usual free admission to the series, enjoyed complimentary drinks while participating in a discussion between Bill Smith and Eddy Man Kim, a professor at the CMU School of Architecture.

Free Friend Friday - need we say more? Members were able to bring guests to the museum for FREE - what a perfect start to the weekend!

Finally, we wrapped up the week with our Saturday Coffee Date with Bill Smith. Bagels, pastries, donuts, croissants, fruit, a full espresso bar, Zeke's Coffee, and Arnold's Tea ... just to name some of the things served at this breakfast bonanza!

The chat with Bill was similarly a diverse cornucopia of topics, including the intuitive construction of his installation, "spherodendron," x-ray crystallography, and the relationship between science, the arts, and the humanities.

Thank you again to everyone that participated in Member Appreciation Week! Stay tuned for our next members' event on November 21 - a Coffee Date with "Factory Installed" artist Lisa Sigal. RSVP by emailing caitlin@mattress.org. For more information or to become a member, please visit www.mattress.org.

RECAP // Coffee Date with Rob Voerman

Factory Installed, an exhibition at 500 Sampsonia Way featuring all-new works by artists Lisa Sigal, Bill Smith, Rob Voerman and Marnie Weber, opened on Friday, September 18. On Saturday morning, Dutch artist Rob Voerman met with Mattress Factory members for a hot beverage (courtesy of Zeke's Coffee and Arnold's Tea) and conversation.

Rob Voerman's installation "Faculty" on the fourth floor of the Mattress Factory.

"Faculty," Voerman's installation on the fourth floor of the Mattress Factory, reflects one of Pittsburgh's most famous landmarks, the University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning which features unique nationality rooms highlighting different cultures from around the world. Voerman's sculpture resembles what looks to be a fragment of that building with one-way mirrors for windows. One member touched on this aspect, referring to the windows as interrogation glass. She noted how it looks so different from the outside than it does on the inside.

Rob Voerman (right) explaining how he works as an artist.

Constructed out of wood and cardboard, Voerman explained how he's always worked with everyday materials. He went on to explain how he makes a cardboard model first, but always ends up changing things when be begins the building process.

Rob Voerman's installation will be on view through Spring 2016.

Don't miss our next Coffee Date with artist Anne Lindberg on October 17. For more information or to become a member, please visit www.mattress.org.

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.

RECAP // Coffee Date with Jacob Douenias + Ethan Frier

On August 1, Jacob Douenias and Ethan Frier hosted a Coffee Date at the Mattress Factory's satellite gallery at 1414 Monterey Street where their installation "Living Things" occupies the entire first floor. Jacob and Ethan are alumni from Carnegie Mellon University's School of Architecture and School of Design, respectively.

Their installation is set as though you're walking into a home. A seating area equipped with a rug and coffee table greet you as you first enter the room, and a table and black and white tiled floor are positioned at the rear with a desk roped off to the left. Jacob and Ethan choose to host their Coffee Date in their installation, as opposed to the MF Café where previous Coffee Dates are typically held. MF Members were invited to sit down and use the coffee table, as Jacob and Ethan made themselves available to answer questions.

Jacob and Ethan opened up the roped off desk on the left-hand side of the room to demonstrate to MF Members how their installation was operating. It is indeed a "living thing," with the algae growing in the basement of the museum (not on view) and being pumped and siphoned to the glass orbs controlled by a series of white knobs embedded in the wooden desk.

Don't miss our next behind-the-scenes Coffee Date with upcoming artist Marnie Weber on August 15 at 10:30am. Marnie's installation opens as Part II of Factory Installed on September 19.

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