Wednesday, August 10, 2016

The Mattress Factory (An Art Museum in Pittsburgh)- Part 2 of 2

Slightly menacing glass eyes...


                        ...'peer out' from within a massive corrugated cardboard...
      

                                                  ...and found object sculpture.



                                           If you dare, you can enter this world...



                                       ...and experience the light and shadow...



                                                  ...of this curious enclosure...



                                                        ...from the inside-out!



                                     Installed like a sitting room in a small home...



                                              ...complete with siding, windows...



                                                ...and rustic, twig porch chairs...



                     ...(just how do they make those fabric puff cushions, anyway?)...



                                            ...is a very unnerving family tableau!



                                                         Mirror-clad rooms...



                               ...complete with mannequins and giant polka dots...



                                            ...delight and confound the senses...



                 ...and blighted objects like old stereo speakers or discarded signs...

                                                   ...are elevated to 'high art'...



                                               ...with a bit of slicing and dicing...

                                                           ...and a good eye.




                                  Next time: I visit edible schoolyards in Erie, PA.

Monday, August 8, 2016

The Mattress Factory (An Art Museum in Pittsburgh)- Part 1 of 2

From otherworldly...


                                                 ...neuronal light installations...



                          ...to bent sheet metal sculptures that defy explanation...



                           ...this contemporary art museum and experimental lab....



                                             ...located in downtown Pittsburgh...

                                              ...is an uneven and curious place!



                                   There's a cunningly fitted, large wooden orifice...

                                ...set into the floor of a mysteriously locked room...



                                                 ...which, one floor below...

                            ...is revealed to be a chute into the wider world beyond.

                                         (The reason for the lock is now obvious!)



                                       There are bisected books and other objects...



                                                ...like inanimate passe-muraille



                                 A room is filled with sensitive electronic sensors...

                         ...all programmed to react dramatically to fallen 'space junk'.



                        There are everyday objects gilded with 'gold leaves' (cheeky)...



                                              ...umbrellas hung as light fixtures...



                                       ...and beds, bolsters and reading lamps...

                    ...which can be shifted from one room to the other, as required.



                                     Tongue in cheek technological commentary...

                  ...comes in the form of fake cats curled atop a different kind of lap...
  

                                                 ...and in disembodied hands...



                                                 ...endlessly scrolling the net.



         Next time: a marvel of cardboard, found objects and stained glass construction.

Saturday, August 6, 2016

"Pollockian Pre-Felt" Purse- Part 4

The bag is turned inside-out for further felting...


                                              ...and a little judicious stitching...

                         ...closes up the open areas on the (fiddly) flanged bottom.



                                                 The fully felted bag (side one)...



                                                            ...and side two.



                                                          Blocking the bag...



                                                                ...for drying.



                           A strap and button flap are cut from a sheet of blue leather...



                                                 ...and are stitched into place.



                                       Some close-ups of the bag's blobby texture.






                                                   The finished purse (alone)...


      
                                                    ...and with two earlier...



                                                           ...blue bags!! ;)



Thursday, August 4, 2016

"Pollockian Pre-Felt" Purse- Part 3

 Adding layers of wool to each side of the resist...


                              ...and fashioning hanging loops at the purse opening.



                                             The final layers of wool are added...



                                           ...and the rubbing and rolling begins.



                                                      Mid-way through felting...



                                 ...the project is beginning to shrink and to thicken.



                          After removing the resist and turning the bag right-side out...



                                     ...the project is rolled in different orientations...





                                        ...to achieve the desired size and shape.



                                                  Next time: the finished purse.

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

"Pollockian Pre-Felt" Purse- Part 2

Cutting out two pieces of pre-felt.

...using the purse resist as a template.


                              Placing one of the pre-felt pieces on the foam resist...

                                        ...and covering it with a layer of silk gauze.



                                  Adding several remaindered snippets of pre-felt...

                                             ...to some of the more open areas.



                                   Covering the project with a layer of wool roving...



                                                  ...and flipping it to side two.



                                     Folding in the pre-felt margins from side one...
                          

                                    ...adding the second piece of trimmed pre-felt...

                                        ...and covering it with a layer of silk gauze.



                                 Applying pre-felt and gauze to the 'flange' section...

                                                        ...in the same manner...



                     ...and covering the whole shebang with additional wool roving.



                                             Next time: felting begins in earnest.