The Mattress Factory

Vanessa German, sometimes. we. cannot. be. with. our. bodies., 2017

This past weekend I visited the Mattress Factory here in Pittsburgh for the first time in years. The non-traditional museum was founded in 1977 in an old mattress factory by artists to support artists, working in residence to create site-specific installations. Since then the museum has presented and commissioned new installation and performance works by more than 750 artists, and grown to take up three buildings in the city’s Mexican War Streets neighborhood. The museum supports established and emerging artists through a residency program that provides leadership, guidance, resources, and opportunities to create artwork that is unconventional, challenging and thought-provoking. The flexibility and inventiveness offered allows artists to respond to developments in technology, explore audience interaction, and challenge traditional artistic ideals and practices.

 

Dennis Maher, A Second Home, 2016

 

Dennis Maher, A Second Home, 2016

 

Dennis Maher, A Second Home, 2016

 

Dennis Maher, A Second Home, 2016

 

Dennis Maher, A Second Home, 2016

 

Vanessa German, sometimes. we. cannot. be. with. our. bodies., 2017

 

Vanessa German, sometimes. we. cannot. be. with. our. bodies., 2017

 

David Pohl, furniture music, 2017

 

David Pohl, furniture music, 2017

 

David Pohl, furniture music, 2017

 

 

William Anastasi, Untitled (Calisthenic Series), 1997

 

Vanessa Sica and Chris Kasabach, Unbrella, 2009

 

Allan Wexler, Bed Sitting Rooms for an Artist in Residence, 1988

 

David Ellis, Summer Quintet #17, 2017

 

Jene Highstein, Untitled, 1986

 

Bill Woodrow, Ship of Fools: Discovery of Time, 1986

 

Sarah Oppenheimer, 610-3356, 2008

 

Meg Webster, Solar Grow Room, 2017

 

Meg Webster, Solar Grow Room, 2017

 

Allan Wexler, Sculpting Gravity​, 2017

 

Allan Wexler, Sculpting Gravity​, 2017

 

Allan Wexler, Sculpting Gravity​, 2017

 

Yayoi Kusama, Infinity Dots, 1996

 

Yayoi Kusama, Repetitive Vision, 1996

 

James Turrell, Catso, Red, 1994

 

Rolf Julius, Red, 1996

Posted In behind the scenes, create, installation, pittsburgh