The opening reception for the upcoming Mattress Factory exhibit, Doreen Chan's "HalfDream: Another Room," will be held on December 2.
The Mattress Factory is pleased to announce HalfDream: Another Room, a new solo exhibition by Hong Kong and US-based artist Doreen Chan. This new site-specific installation engages Chan’s on-going participatory art project, HalfDream, in which users around the world can describe their dreams, adding them to a database which matches common dreams of participants and connects “dreammates.”An overview of the exhibition:
Join us on Friday, December 2 from 6-8 PM for the opening reception and a conversation with the artist. “Dream drink” cocktails and light bites from Salems Grill will be available.
The Mattress Factory is pleased to announce HalfDream: Another Room, a new solo exhibition by Hong Kong and US-based artist Doreen Chan. This new site-specific installation engages Chan’s on-going participatory art project, HalfDream, in which users around the world can describe their dreams, adding them to a database which matches common dreams of participants and connects “dreammates.” The exhibition will open to the public on Saturday, December 3, 2022, with an opening reception and conversation with the artist on Friday December 2 at 6pm. HalfDream: Another Room will be on view in the Museum’s Main Building through the fall of 2023.Read more about Chan and HalfDream on the Mattress Factory website. The Mattress Factory Museum of Contemporary Art is located at 500 Sampsonia Way on the North Side (map).
HalfDream connects people based on their dreams as an alternative to the typical ways in which society would group and identify people. In 2020, political polarization reinforced social divisions in both Hong Kong and the US. Close relations ceased to communicate because of differing political views – it was as if they had lost their common language. During the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing magnified this split and made connecting even more difficult. As an artist and arts educator in a time when people all over the world were facing similar but differing turbulences, Chan saw dreams as a medium to connect people. She believes dreams can be a subconscious connection between people in their waking lives. HalfDream explores the emotions and events shared between dreamers, seeking to form an intricate and meaningful web.
Throughout 2022, Chan and the Mattress Factory held open calls for submissions of dreams from Pittsburgh locals via HalfDream’s website (HalfDream.org). From these submissions, Chan has transformed a selection of them into artworks, becoming integrated into the installation itself.
