Intelligent Design with MF Shannon: Low-Res vs. High Res

Intelligent Design, a reoccurring series on the MF blog published by graphic designer Shannon Knepper, tackles a different design issue with each installment. This first post in the series examines the difference between high-resolution and low-resolution images. In addition to handling the lion's share of the graphic design for the museum, Shannon also runs her own design company, War Admiral Press.



Ever printed something directly from a website and it came out looking like this?

This is a low-resolution image. We could get into pixels and dots, but I’m assuming you didn’t come here to die of boredom. Basically, the majority of images on the web are low-resolution; tiny files make for faster loading. Faster loading makes for less monitor punching. And so, because designers are generally against punching of all kinds, we make images with lower resolution. They look great on screen, but terrible on paper.

You wanna print something? That's where hi-res (or high resolution) images come into the picture. These images have more information crammed into the file, so that when you print it out on paper, it comes out as crisp and clean as a pair of freshly-ironed undergutchies. Naturally, these files are bigger. And not web friendly. And oftentimes NOT email friendly. Try sending a few 20 megabyte files to your friends and see how popular you become!

So, the next time you print something out and it's all fuzzy, it's probably a low-resolution image; if there's a bigger file available, then go big! Or go home. Unless you are home. And then…uh…you should probably go out and do something. Seriously.

POSTED BY SHANNON Read All Posts by Shannon

'Tis the Season for Families at the MF

This week we welcome the beginning of the 2009 holiday season. I really enjoy this time of year here at the museum because it's a popular time for families to visit. As an arts educator, watching children experience the artwork here at the MF is an amazing thing. Their enthusiasm, awe and eloquence describing their experience is continuing inspiration for me in my position as Director of Education.

Having said that, I'd like to invite you and your family to join us on the day after Thanksgiving (November 27th) for Family Day at the MF. Every year on Black Friday, the Mattress Factory offers an alternative to long shopping lines and crowded department stores. This year is no different! Beginning at 10:00AM, we'll have a lobby full of hands-on art activities including a contemporary portraiture project related to our current exhibition, LIKENESS. And as a special addition this year, our good friends from Artists Image Resource will be here leading a screen printing activity.

As if this wasn't enough, guided tours will be given at 1:30 PM and 3:30 PM, and the BoxSpring Café will be open for lunch. All Family Day activities are FREE with regular museum admission, so forget the mall this Friday and join us for an afternoon of art the whole family can get into! I hope to see you here.

POSTED BY ANNA Read All Posts by Anna

Notes From the Archive: MF Limited Editions

One project I’m currently focusing on in the MF archives is getting our Limited Edition collection online. The items in this collection are comprised of various works on paper and three dimensional sculptures, and are representations of past Mattress Factory installations. Typically, the artist will focus on an element or idea from their large-scale exhibition piece and create a smaller-scale run of works. The pieces are then numbered, signed and made available for purchase here at the museum. Proceeds from the sale are split 50/50 between the artist and the MF.

Virtually all of the work artists create at the Mattress Factory isn’t made to be sold or installed in a home environment. Therefore, the Limited Edition collection is unique in that someone can take an element of Mattress Factory art home with them. The collection currently features work from some of our permanent collection artists; Rolf Julius (pictured below), William Anastasi, and Jene Highstein. We also have pieces by artists whose work is no longer exhibiting such as David Ellis, Jessica Stockholder, Deborah Aschheim, Mark Garry, and Dove Bradshaw.

Of course, I won’t be doing all of the work necessary to get these works online. In fact, much of my work will be quite invisible. I’m responsible for producing catalog information about each piece and entering that information into our collections database. We currently use a simple database platform (HINT: exciting news about this to come in a future blog post!) and most of the information is standard; artist, title of work, date, and dimensions. However, it is also important to note what type of ink was used, what kind of paper the work was printed on, or what sort of candy compound was used.

I’m also responsible for properly storing these items and organizing the archive so they can be found easily and quickly. Much of this work is already complete and I’m now focusing on making sure each artist's Limited Edition documentation folder has everything necessary should someone want to purchase a piece. These documents include certificates of authenticity for each edition to be sold, information about the artist (CV or biography), press relating to their exhibition and information about the original piece that inspired the edition.

Just yesterday, photographer Tom Little was here documenting the collection. Once we get the images back from Tom, I’ll gather all the relevant identifying information and send it all on to Jeffrey, who will serve it up to you, nice and pretty like, on the internet.

POSTED BY LEAH Read All Posts by Leah

Please Help: The 2009 Annual Fund

What a year it's been here at the Mattress Factory! With the closing of Inner and Outer Space early in January, we rolled through Predrive: After Technology, Thaddeus Mosley: Sculpture (Studio | Home), the 12th and 13th installments in the Gestures Exhibition Series, the most over the top Urban Garden Party in MF history, and just last month the opening of LIKENESS and the addition of Greer Lankton's It's all about ME, Not You to the museum's permanent collection. Quite a year for art and programming.

We also pushed technological boundaries by becoming the first museum in the United States to utilize QR code technology in the galleries to enhance visitor experiences. The MF iConfess & SCREENtxt projects were also innovative & experimental successes.

As you can probably assume, making art and producing these programs and exhibitions isn't cheap. It costs $45 per day to house one artist in residence. It costs $733 to fly a curator from Dublin to Pittsburgh. It costs $48 a day to keep the lights on in our galleries at 500 Sampsonia. It costs $2,200 to buy a video projector for an artist.

Friends, members and supporters like you help enable the Mattress Factory to continue offering an environment for artists and curators to take risks and create new work and exhibitions. Please consider giving to the Mattress Factory's 2009 Annual Fund today.

SIZE DOESN’T MATTER AT THE MF
Every gift, no matter what size, makes a big difference at the Mattress Factory. A high level of support from individuals like you can help the museum attract gifts from foundations, corporations and other sources. Your gift, combined with those from other friends of the Mattress Factory, helps us build a foundation to make strong exhibitions and education programs extraordinary. CLICK HERE to give $25 today!

We understand that some of you aren't in a financial position to give, and you can still help. Please use the buttons below to help spread the word by sharing this blog post with your online networks on FaceBook and Twitter. Every post helps.



DOUBLE IT
Many corporations will match their employees' gifts to the Mattress Factory with an equal corporate contribution. Check with your human resources office for details. You also can contact me, Lindsay, at lindsay [at] mattress [dot] org or 412-231-3169 and I’ll ask for you.

POSTED BY LINDSAY Read All Posts by Lindsay

Artist & Curator Harvest Talk

Naturally, the thing I look forward to most during a run of an exhibition here at the Mattress Factory is the educational programming my department produces. Through workshops, lectures, outreach events and artist/school partnerships, I love helping create opportunities that connect MF artists with the public and programs that encourage viewers to consider the relevance of art & creativity in their own lives. The next such event will take place this Saturday, November 7, here at the museum.

I invite you to join Gestures 13 curator Katherine Talcott and exhibiting artists Stephanie Armbruster, Jeremy Boyle, Jonny Farringdon, Nayda Collazo-Llorens, Amanda Long, Lindsay O'Leary, Drew Pavelchak, The Urban Gardner & Dror Yaron for an evening of artistic discussion and fall harvest treats. There will be a guided tour of the exhibition at 6:00PM and the discussion will begin at 7:00PM. Admission is $10, but as always: MF members, PITT + CMU Students are FREE with I.D. I hope to see you Saturday evening!

POSTED BY ANNA Read All Posts by Anna

Give Twice this Holiday Season

This is the first post from Catena Bergevin, Director of Operations here at the Mattress Factory. Catena has worked for the museum for more than 5 years and is responsible for making sure everything here at the MF runs smoothly. She is also dedicated to ensuring the sustainability of the Mattress Factory's earned income lines of business, which include museum admissions & membership, the MF Shop & BoxSpring Café and facilities rentals.

Hello MF Blog readers! For my first blog post, I thought I'd focus on the amazing mission and people that make the Mattress Factory run smoothly each day. I'd also like to highlight some special initiatives we have cooking for the holiday season. I know, I can't believe the holidays are right around the corner either! Where did the time go?

Certainly, the holiday season fills each of us with a renewed "spirit of giving." Well, that is a year-round mantra here at the the Mattress Factory. During the almost half-dozen years I've been working here, I have seen MF staff go far beyond what is written in their job description. From visitor services staff to building maintenance, each face of the MF believes strongly in our mission and works diligently to support the art. Many of our staff members are artists themselves or volunteer for other arts organizations. They truly bring the spirit of giving an inspirational meaning.

Did you know that museum visitors and our friends from afar can also give back to the MF in a variety of ways? This might surprise you, but the museum relies heavily on earned money (i.e. paid admissions, shop and cafe revenue, membership, etc.). Approximately 30% of the MF's operating budget comes from earned income. My passion here has always involved finding ways to realize the museum's earning potential. (Not to mention that I absolutely adore retail!) In 2005 we opened the MF Shop and in 2006 the Boxspring Café. We also expanded our facility rental business with the addition of a full time Event Coordinator.

So this holiday season, we're launching the GIVE TWICE initiative. Each and every purchase, not only gets you something truly awesome (and by awesome, we mean MF awesome), but it also helps the Mattress Factory provide artists-in-residence with unparalleled support in creating new installations at the museum. So whether it is a new MF logo shirt, a green membership, a cup of soup, or a place to hold your next cocktail party, please consider supporting the Mattress Factory with your purchasing this holiday season!

SHOP + EAT + JOIN + CELEBRATE = ART!

POSTED BY CATENA Read All Posts by Catena

LIKENESS Video Series: Jonn Herschend

Today's installment in the LIKENESS Video Series (produced with love by MF Danny) comes from Jonn Herschend, an interdisciplinary artist, curator and experimental publisher preoccupied with how emotional confusion, absurdity and veracity play out in the realm of the everyday. He lives and works in San Francisco, and is the co-founder and co-editor, along with Will Rogan, of the experimental publication THE THING. Jonn was raised in a mid-western theme park in the Ozarks that his grandfather started. Later it was run by his father and uncle. Both of his parents were street performers and when Jonn was born, a sign was placed in his parents’ front yard that read, “Home of Jonn Herschend, future train robber.” According to Jonn that sign is still around.



JONN HERSCHEND
Self Portrait as a PowerPoint Proposal for an Amusement Park Ride (2009)
projector, DVD player, self-running PowerPoint presentation, projection screen, leak in ceiling, buckets, plastic sheets, janitor closet, custodial items, 16 mm. projector with looper, portable projection screen
LIKENESS Exhibition - Through March 21, 2010

Herschend’s many-sided conceptual, Self Portrait as a PowerPoint Proposal for an Amusement Park Ride, is characterized by a strong sense of narrative, not strictly limited to straightforward vignettes or mimetic representation. In his complex self-portrait one finds a narrative that resembles fantasy, role-playing, fiction and a touch of reality. Jonn’s choice of subjects and materials contribute to the kind of story he opts to tell and show his audience. Jonn says about this piece:

The entire installation is a self-portrait...not one part. It’s both sides of the entertainment experience... the fantasy of the gallery and the hidden reality. It goes from the conceptual notion of a museum installation, to a disruption with the physical space (the leak in the ceiling), to a hidden and nostalgic projection of a true moment of complete innocence.

This is the first time I’ve ever really worked on a piece that referenced my affiliation with the amusement park of my past. For me, museums and galleries are very similar to amusement parks. They are where we come to experience a diversion from the real world. And we expect things to be a certain way.

From a formal aspect, the PowerPoint projection (an application used to supposedly make confusing issues clear) becomes bogged down and sidetracked with the introduction of an illicit affair and car wreck.

The black and white slides are spilling over with emotion, just as the physical building is failing and starting to leak. But in the Janitor’s closet, a place that is not formally on the map of a museum or gallery, the 16 mm projection is a translation of a moment (a true moment) where I recorded my daughter experiencing an amusement park ride with full and complete innocent joy (at the amusement park where I grew up). I wanted to transfer and translate the moment to a medium associated with memory and nostalgia.”

POSTED BY JEFFREY Read All Posts by Jeffrey