Clutter—or lack of it—is virtuous, mythical, frustrating. My mom always used to tell me that clutter inhibits clear thought. Whenever I visit a friend's house, I feel like I gain an insight into their personal values depending on where they fall on the complete-mess to neat-freak continuum. I struggle with my weekly crusade against book piles, wrappers, lighters, jewelry, lotions, perfumes, pencils, papers, business cards, lip balms, makeup, plates, cups, and dirty socks that cover almost every conceivable flat surface in my room, accumulating without my interference at all.
Tonight, The Factory with be showing work by Seattle artist and sculptor Quinlyn Johnson during the Capitol Hill Art Walk. Her show CLUTTER immortalizes and pays tribute to this stuff, this clutter, that can take over our personal spaces. Johnson will be creating sculptural works out of wood and concrete that replicate all this junk we can't seem to let go of. I mean, you keep all those scraps of paper around for a reason. And, yeah, you NEED to keep twenty different pens because they all write different! And maybe this calculator from high school will come in handy with all the math I do, as an arts writer—you never know!
The Factory will be open from 6pm-11pm tonight for the Capitol Hill Art Walk.
