a handle, a stem, a hook, a ring, a loop

Photo of Open Source Gallery, a former two-car garage, with both garage doors opened to afford a full veiw of the gallery from the street.

Screenshot of the tumbler page, somethinglostortolose.tumblr.com

Lauren Frances Adams, 2015, Corn on Fire Skateboard, acrylic on canvas, 12 x 18 inches.

Lauren Frances Adams, 2015, Hollywood in the Attic, acrylic on canvas, 12 x 14 inches.

Dad with His Boat, 2015, acrylic on canvas, 12” x 12”

Lauren Frances Adams, 2015, Grandma Glitter Shoes, acrylic on canvas, 14 x 16 inches.

Lauren Frances Adams, 2015, Rabbi Blanket, acrylic on canvas, 18 x 22 inches.<

Lauren Frances Adams, 2015, Pebbles, acrylic on canvas, 20 x 15 inches.

Lauren Frances Adams, 2015, smaller paintings inspired by lost objects described in stories, painted in-gallery; acrylic on canvas paper, dimensions variable.

a piñata of a microave, made of blue streamers and black vinyl

a photo of a piñata modeled after a dewalt travel-sized table saw made of yellow streamers for the sides, white streamers for the top, and red streamers for the knobs and miter gauge

a blindfolded participant swings at the air compressor piñata

a young girl in a raincoat swings at the ironing board piñata, two images showing the motion

A pile of broken piñatas on a concrete floor

a photo of part of piñata and confetti on the ground

a handle, a stem, a hook, a ring, a loop was a collaborative installation by Lauren Frances Adams and Christine Wong Yap of imaginative objects and paintings that explore desire, loss, and non-attachment.

Adams and Yap share interests in how objects and possessions are imbued with meaning.

Garages often serve as surplus storage, but the lack of excess space in NYC inspired Wong Yap to make papier-mâché piñatas of objects that she would like to own but cannot store, such as cooking appliances and woodworking tools. The exhibition culminated with a ‘non-attachment piñata party,’ where the public was invited to hit and destroy the piñatas in a gesture of letting go.

Adams invited strangers to submit a story of their personal desires and burdens to prompt a painting, resulting in a display of the finished artworks that will be exchanged with the storytellers. Inspired by the exchange found at garage sales and on internet websites like Craigslist, Adams performed a ‘service’ to solicit the hidden appreciations and antagonisms between strangers and their possessions. Read the collection of all stories at somethinglostortolose.tumblr.com.

Caption: Lauren Frances Adams and Christine Wong Yap, a handle, a stem, a hook, a ring, a loop, 2015. Part of Whitney Lynn: Rummage, at Open Source Gallery, Brooklyn, NY.

Thanks to Lauren Frances Adams, Shauna Sorensen, Whitney Lynn, Open Source Gallery, Monika Wührer, Michael Yap, and all participants!