In August, The Museum of Contemporary Craft in Portland, Oregon opened the doors on ManufRactured: The Conspicuous Transformation of Everyday Objects, a first-of-its-kind exhibit featuring a new class of objects:
The exhibition highlights works from fifteen international artists who appropriate manufactured products to create sculptural works and installations of all sizes and scales. Rather than transform a single natural material, the artists on view employ a variety of pristine goods culled directly from manufacturers and store shelves as their raw materials.
Livia Marin, 2,214 lipsticks
Sonya Clark, plastic combs
This video shows the installation in progress and includes interviews with artists Jason Rogenes (polystyrene and cardboard), Laura Splan (you MUST listen to her interview…I think you’ll be shocked by both the materials she uses and the elegant results) and one of my favorite artists, Harriete Estel Berman (recycled tin cans). I am always amazed at what artists ‘see’ when they look at any given material. Wonderful stuff.
You can find more images of this exhibit here.
Well, between this post and the last one on Attitude and Intention, you have just become my favorite blog. Many, many thanks for your thoughtful writing and creative culling of all that’s out there in the web-iverse!
Thanks so much Desmene – you just made my day!
Shocked? How about jaw-droppingly flabergasted? Just as novelists are constantly asked “where do you get your ideas?”, the same can be said here. But no matter what sparked these artistic paths, I sure appreciate being able to walk down them and enjoy the view along the way. Thanks as always for posting such amazing links, Susan!
[...] do wonder if she lives nearby; one of her latest entries is a photo from the newly opened Manufactured show at the Portland Museum of Contemporary Craft. [...]