SAIPUA

There is a life and beauty that exists in an old dressmakers sewing box. That life lies not in the wood and brass hinges from which the box is made, rather it is found within the multi-colored jumble of spools of thread and the assortment of pins placed at random in the pincushion. This is an arrangement that could only emerge from use - the result of an ongoing act between the dressmaker, the dressmaker’s tools, and the thing being made.

For Saipua's new location, situated in an existing warehouse, we sought to create a freestanding, inhabitable box that, like the sewing box, provides a timeless place for making - timeless in the sense that this place is only "complete" when occupied and filled with the life and beauty that results from the ongoing act of making.

Here a silver skin of weathered barn siding wraps to enclose two box-like rooms - one nested within the other. In the smaller interior volume, rows of siding seem to slide back, revealing an assortment of wood box vessels - nooks, primed to receive Saipua's wares. With a stage-like street facade the box mediates the space between the life of the street and the workshop at the back of the warehouse.

This space functions much like the front porch of a house, serving as a place of gathering and performance: a stage where visitors take on the interchanging roles of performer and audience set against an ever-changing backdrop provided by both the interior life of the shop and the life of the street.

Curtain rises at noon on Saturday August 22nd. Please visit Saipua's blog for more photos