Furpile (First Friday All-Fours Pub Crawl)

This listing is for the First Friday viewing of Furpile, hosted by Mary's Bar. This will be a low light, high volume showing of the work comprising the show, which may variably emphasize or mute aspects of the work in question.

Furpile is a please-touch stuffie sculpture show. Furpile intends to imbue both the audience and the artist with a shared experience of play, such that each of them may participate in their capacity as a novice, and that a basic lived experience may be transmitted through the work itself.

Dolls have performed roughly the same function for the whole of human history, but I thought the general notion of a "doll" may yield work too variable in scale and format. A Beanie Baby is a sort of object with parameters that are generally understood and that few people, besides persons employed by Ty in an official capacity, have ever attempted to construct. There is a way to "fail" at making a Beanie Baby in a way you can not fail at making a "doll." So, I asked about 500 people to make a Beanie Baby and mail it to me. Furpile is a show of the counterfeit Beanie Babies I received in return (roughly 75).

At the close of the show, all of the works on display will be donated to a thrift store somewhere in Pennsylvania, such that these Beanies may reintegrate into our larger ecosystem of objects.

PLAYDATES ARE ALLOWED AND ENCOURAGED. Furpile is a great opportunity to socialize stuffies that don't get out of the house much.

No persons under the age of 21 will be admitted to this showing. No cover necessary for entry. Wheelchair entrance is available in the back of the venue, ask staff. Followed by Mary's happy hour @ 8pm. Coinciding with the opening of Tommy Bruce's show I LOVE FURRY @ Bunker Projects down the block, which will spotlight work by a number of the same artists featured in Furpile.