Mattress Factory - it made me feel all funny inside.

Over the Thanksgiving break I finally got to the Mattress Factory along with Your Active Art-Loving Husband, and it definitely made me feel all funny inside. I would say it also made my soul giggle and kind of made my head hurt, too.

The Mattress Factory is a contemporary art museum located in the North Side and has all sorts of in your face, interactive, mind-blowing installation pieces. The Mattress Factory is appropriate for all ages and during my visit there was a great mix of visitors from couples to families to grandparents and grandkids. Here’s a video posted recently demonstrating the power of one of the permanent installations on toddlers.

The museum is actually located in two refurbished historic buildings along Jacksonia Street; a parking lot is located at 505 Jacksonia and provides entrance to the main building. And as you enter the building, the helpful staff at the front desk directs you on where to start and what to expect. I highly recommend you pick up one the paper guides to the current exhibit at the front desk; it tells you about the artists and the show. For a contemporary art novice like me, the guide was invaluable!

We started on the top floor (4th floor), which is devoted to the newest exhibit. It is a group exhibition called LIKENESS, all about an artistic exploration of how we perceive ourselves and how others perceive us. The installations include a funny piece of storytelling that was one of my favorites. LIKENESS exhibits are also found on the 3rd floor and basement level. **Don’t miss the piece in the basement, it’s both creepy and funny and was also one of my favorites. LIKENESS runs until March 2010.

On the lower floors are several permanent installations including exhibits by Greer Lankton, James Turrell, and Yayoi Kusama that were all pretty trippy. The Turrell and Kusama exhibits in particular are not to be missed. They are very guest interactive and lots of fun and kind of blew my mind. A staff member said that when they hold receptions there they have to watch the guests before they get a little too interactive; I can only imagine!

The second building owned by the Mattress Factory is located about a block and a half from the main museum. This building houses some of the artist-in-residence pieces and is also well worth a look.

For those who are not particular fans of contemporary art and could basically take it or leave it, I do understand you. I mostly missed out on the art appreciate gene, myself, and my interest tends to run to pretty colors and straight lines. I would still encourage everyone to visit MF at least once because I believe this kind museum challenges your perceptions of art and the world, and because I believe supporting the arts has always been a huge part of what makes Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh.